Comfort Zone
by cylobaby
Summary: Emmaline has protected herself within her impenetrable shield for years. But when she joins up with the X-Men, will she be able to let Logan past her defenses and find true love? Rating subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

"Why don't we just take a house for good?" Jamie moaned as they drove slowly around the quiet suburban neighborhood. He was thirteen years old, but as the youngest in the group felt it was his obligation to complain. The houses were small and cozy, but each was well-kept. Cars, soccer nets, and worn tricycles were signs of obvious habitation, so the car moved past those without another look.

"I can only convince two, three people at a time," Drew replied for the hundredth time. He was in the passenger seat leaned back as far as it would go with his eyes closed. His short black hair, once meticulously spiked, was now clean but tousled from sleeping in the car. "People would start asking questions if we stayed in one place too long."

"Let them ask," Jamie said, voice uneven because he was leaning his head on the car window. "Emmy's old enough to be our guardian. She's been taking care of us for years."

"Yes, but I'm _not_ your guardian," Emmaline said from the driver's seat. "Now you guys shut up so I can focus." Her eyes swept over each house with feigned casualness, but behind her dark sunglasses her unusual eyes were sharp and calculating. Jamie's sigh made her relent. "Sorry. You know we're doing the best we can." He nodded, but didn't reply. "It's not easy for Drew or me either," she reminded him. "We all—bingo." Her eyes latched onto a corner house. The yard was slightly overgrown, suggesting neglect. There was a motorcycle propped inside the open garage and a man in a sweaty shirt and reflective red sunglasses was working diligently on it.

Drew raised his seat up and looked at the house. "Single and unfriendly," he noted. "I bet the neighbors hate that he doesn't mow that lawn every week like the rest of them."

"A non-conformist in every neighborhood. No one will miss him for a few weeks," Emmaline confirmed. She slowed even more, making sure there wasn't anything they were missing. The man looked strong and angry, if the way he was shining the motorcycle was an indicator, but they weren't planning on fighting him.

Emmaline drove past the corner, circled back up to the front of the neighborhood, and parked by the community pool. In the summer while the pool was crowded, few people would notice the unfamiliar car. Getting out of the car they looked like three normal people. Emmaline was dressed conservatively for a twenty-three year old in the middle of August in dark jean shorts, tennis shoes, and a pale blue tank top. Her auburn hair was pulled in a high ponytail and swished against her shoulders as she walked. Drew and Jamie were dressed in casual khakis and t-shirts, similar to the neighborhood teens lounging by the pool.

They left their luggage in the car—it was less conspicuous to come back for it that night—and strolled casually down the street to the house they had tagged earlier. The spherical shield Emmaline maintained over the small group was clear but caught iridescent highlights from the summer sun though the passersby attributed to their imagination or the heat. As she walked, Emmaline kept the shield wide enough so the three mutants could walk comfortably on the sidewalk without brushing against the impenetrable edge.

They were not accosted on their way to the house though they went from the front of the neighborhood to the very back, but Emmaline still kept a cautious eye out. The warm weather had many families out of their homes, playing baseball in the front yard or sitting in rocking chairs with an icy drink. Emmaline waved calmly to everyone she saw, acting comfortable in the unfamiliar area.

Finally, they reached the house they had tagged earlier. The man was not in the garage or driveway and, since his motorcycle was still there, Emmaline assumed he was inside. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching them, the three mutants slunk around the chosen house and approached the back door.

The coarse grass of the unmowed lawn irritated Emmaline's skin but she kept her steps calm and even. The group moved into formation with Jamie in front, Drew directly behind him, and Emmaline in the rear. Jamie grinned, enjoying the job. Drew kept a bored expression, though his eyes danced.

Emmaline exhaled and extended her shield to incorporate the door knob. She nodded to Jamie, who shot a small bolt of electricity from his pointer finger, melting the metal lock and allowing them to push the door open. The moment they entered, a ringing mechanical voice said, "Intruder alert. Intruder alert."

Emmaline looked around the small kitchen for the source of the alarm, keeping herself calm and focused. Jamie looked to her, electricity jumping between his fingers. He had disabled many alarms in their past excursions.

"Alarm off," said a man's voice, and the alarm was immediately silenced. The man they had seen earlier walked into the kitchen they had entered. He had not taken off his red sunglasses though he was inside and was unshaven, which made him appear dark and menacing as he crossed his arms and snapped, "Who are you?"

Emmaline quickly pushed out her shield to envelop him. He started in surprise as it went over him and took a step towards them. Emmaline narrowed her eyes. Few people noticed the shield's touch. Drew held up a hand and said softly, "We are not here. You are going on a two week vacation to New York." His voice echoed strangely an octave higher and lower. As always, it gave Emmaline a chill down her spine to hear him. "It is a spontaneous decision, so you tell only your friends where you are going. There is no need to have someone watch the house."

Instead of complacently nodding, the man took another step towards them. "I'm not going anywhere. Explain why you're in my house."

"A mutant," Drew hissed. "Pull in the shield, pull in the shield."

Emmaline snapped the shield back to exclude the man and whirled around. "Out now," she told Jamie, who was thankfully already backing to the door. "Never mind," she said loudly to the man. "Wrong house."

"Bar exits," the man commanded. The house obeyed immediately. Thick bars clicked into place over the doors and windows, showing an unnerving amount of technology for a suburban house. "Charles didn't send you," he stated, taking a step towards them. "So who did?"

"Let us leave," Emmaline said firmly, standing in front of Drew and Jamie even though she trusted her shield. "No one sent us. We weren't trying to hurt you." Her voice was forceful, but he didn't look convinced.

"Three mutants just happen to turn up in my house?" he said sarcastically. "Does Magneto think I'm so messed up I can't take on three kids?"

"No one sent us," Emmaline repeated. "I don't even know who those people are." Ignoring her, the man grabbed an unusually flat phone of the counter, pressed a button, and held it to his ear. "Listen, you don't have to call the cops. I promise we'll leave and not come back."

"Yes, it's me," he said into the phone. "No, not yet. But listen, I've got three mutants in my house." He snorted. "I'm fine… Well, if they're not ours, then… One girl, early twenties, two boys, mid-teens. Some sort of force-field and hypnotism. Yeah."

As he continued talking, Jamie breathed into Emmaline's ear. "Let me out. I can zap him and take out the alarm system."

"We're not going to hurt him until we're sure he won't let us just leave," Emmaline muttered, watching the man closely. She hadn't allowed Jamie out of the protectiveness of her shield in months. "But if I say go…"

"Let the Professor decide what to do with them," he said angrily. "Oh, all right. How are you already so close? Well, good. Oh, don't worry. I'll blast them if they try anything. Bye, Storm." He closed the phone and held it loosely in his hand. "The X-Team's coming to pick you up. If Magneto sent you, then the Professor can handle you. If you're rogues… well, then the Professor can handle you."

Emmaline pulled the shield in to release Jamie. "Go!" she shouted.

Electricity arced through the air, hitting the metal cell phone. The man was thrown against the doorframe and fell down unconscious. White lightning raced around the walls and skittered across Emmaline's shield, and the bars on the exits lifted. Once the door was free, Emmaline looped Jamie back into the shield, opened the door, and ran out.

They kept pace with each other racing around to the front of the house, but slowed when they saw a couple strolling on the sidewalk across the street. To avoid suspicion, they walked nonchalantly together back up the street. Emmaline hoped she didn't look as shaken as she felt. "Scott!" They heard a shout from back at the house.

Risking a quick look back, she saw a teen emerge from the house. Emmaline wished there were more trees or hills in the neighborhood so he couldn't see them so easily. "Over there!" the teen called over his shoulder, pointed at Emmaline, Jamie, and Drew.

"Run," Emmaline said and they broke into a sprint together, not looking back again. By the time they turned the next corner, Emmaline was regretting not parking closer to the target house. Though she was in good shape, the heat was making her tank top stick to her back. Jamie was beginning to lag as they got closer, worn from his extensive use of his power. He got too far behind her and the solid shield rammed into him from behind. He fell, scraping his hands and knees, but got doggedly back on his feet. Emmaline said, "C'mon Jamie, we've got to go."

"We can't stay on the sidewalk," Drew told Emmaline after another minute of running. "Veer left." She took his advice and found that they were running in a playing field. Overhead, the sunny day was taking a dangerous turn, with black clouds suddenly swirling over them.

"I can recharge and take them," Jamie panted, pointing up to the thunderheads. "They're not going to stop chasing us."

Emmaline looked behind and saw that the teen was joined by a dark-skinned woman with white hair and a strange blue man, and all three were in hot pursuit, getting much too close for comfort. "Fine," Emmaline forced herself to agree, and she stopped, pulling her shield away from Jamie for the second time that day.

Jamie halted abruptly and thrust a hand towards the sky. A bolt of lightning obeyed, coming down and striking his hand. Though Emmaline had seen it before, it made her flinch every time to see him struck by lightning. His hair stood on end with the energy he had taken on, and he turned to the oncoming trio, electricity crackling dangerously across his skin. He leveled a hand at the teenage boy. Suddenly, the blue man was behind him. He grabbed Jamie tightly around the chest and vanished with him.

Emmaline gasped, horrified. She let Jamie out of the safety of her shield and now he was gone. The blue man was almost immediately back without Jamie, appearing first beside the other two mutants who had stopped to stand a few feet from Emmaline and Drew, and then bouncing back off Emmaline's shield. He tried again from another side, but couldn't get through. Another bolt of lightning, this one not called by Jamie but seemingly random from the storm overhead, struck the shield. The energy arced around it before vanished harmlessly into the ground. Finally, the teen sent out a blast of ice, which covered the whole field except an uneven circle around Emmaline and Drew.

"Where's J—where is he?" Emmaline asked defensively. The three mutants stood in a row, watching Emmaline and Drew suspiciously. Or more likely, watching for her shield to waver. When they did not answer her question, Emmaline shouted, "Where is he?"

"He is in the containment area of our ship," the blue man offered, his voice colored by a strong accent. "He is unharmed."

"Why were you in Scott's house?" the black woman challenged, arms crossed.

"We weren't sent by anyone," Emmaline repeated what she had said to the man earlier.

"We needed a place to stay," Drew admitted. Emmaline glared at him, but avoided her gaze. "I have a mutation. I can convince non-mutants that they had planned a vacation or something so we can have their house for a week or two. If we had known that guy, Scott, was a mutant, we wouldn't have even gone there. Give us back Jam—" Emmaline stomped on his foot. "Our friend. Give us back our friend. We haven't hurt anyone."

"Scott was unconscious when we got there," the woman stated, crossing her arms.

Emmaline stepped slightly in front of Drew, glaring at the woman. "That was because he wouldn't let us leave. I'd advise you not to make the same mistake."

"Bluff," the woman said correctly. "If either of you had defensive powers we wouldn't just be standing here talking. Since your shield is obviously not coming down, I see two options. You come with us back to the school so we can make sure you're not with Magneto. If not, then we can train you there. Or, we leave you two and just take your friend with us."

Emmaline froze. She couldn't make Drew do this, but she couldn't abandon Jamie. "Give us a minute," she said to the imposing mutants, and turned around to Drew. "I have to look out for Jamie," she whispered. "I can walk you to the edge of the woods under the shield. Then you can run, and I'll let them take me."

"No," Drew whispered fiercely, brows furrowed. "I'm not abandoning you two again. We're in this together."

Checking his face to make sure he was being honest, she nodded and turned back to the mutants. "Exactly what is this 'school'?" she asked.

_Please review and let me know what you think. I've got the first few chapters written and will post the second one the moment I get ten reviews. This story is set right after XII, so Jean just died (and she's not coming back in this story). Let me know what you think!_


	2. Chapter 2

Emmaline boarded the invisible jet uncertainly, cautiously keeping the shield up around her and Drew. She still didn't trust these 'teachers,' no matter if they were the superheroes they claimed to be. They had been surprised that she didn't already know who they were, but she rarely wasted time with television, especially the news. She knew the existence of mutants was widely known and feared now, but any specific names of anyone outside of her small group were beyond her.

The interior of the jet bristled with technology, but Emmaline refused to be impressed. She set down their duffel bags they had retrieved from their car and looked around the empty cabin angrily. "Where is he?"

"There's another section in the back," Storm, as the black woman had introduced herself, told her as she edged around the shield into the jet. "That's where your friend and Scott are now."

"Let me see him," she insisted, walking towards the back past the leather seats and dragging Drew with her.

"Emmy?" Jamie shouted, voice muffled by the wall between them. "Emmy!"

"I'm here," she replied. "Are you okay?" She tried not to let her worry show to the mutants behind her.

"I'm in some kind of rubber box. I can't use my power!" She heard him pounding on the walls of his cell. "Get out of here!"

Emmaline tried to open the metal door but the handle did not move. A keypad sat over the handle instead of a keyhole. "Let me see him," Emmaline repeated, glaring at Storm.

"I can't do that," she replied calmly, walking to the pilot's chair. "You can't get within shielding range until we've discussed all of this with the Professor."

Drew put his hand on Emmaline's shoulder. "We know where he is," he murmured. "The sooner we see this 'Professor' the better."

"We're coming with you," Emmaline told Jamie through the wall. "We can see you later." Emmaline had to force herself to walk to the front of the plane despite Jamie's continued protests.

"I guess you two want to sit next to each other?" the teen, introduced as Bobby the Iceman, said, gesturing to a pair of seats. Emmaline nodded, and adjusted her shield close to their bodies so it could surround them without including any chairs but their own. They strapped in with only minor difficulty and prepared for take-off.

"Will he be comfortable back there?" Emmaline asked Bobby, looking back at the door to where Jamie was being held.

"Yes. It's a rubber box, not a torture chamber," he smiled, shrugging. "We're the good guys, remember?" Emmaline suppressed a grimace. "So, you know who we are. What are your names?"

"I'm Jennifer," Emmaline replied automatically. "This is David, and that is Jacob."

The blue man, Kurt, on Bobby's other side, smiled at them in greeting. Bobby nodded, but looked unconvinced. "So that's why 'Jacob' was yelling for someone named Emmy?"

"Her last name's Emerson. We call her Emmy for short," Drew cut in smoothly. When Bobby still just smiled, Drew said, "It's weird, but it's a better nickname than Bobby."

The other mutant glared at Drew, but looked back to the front when the jet lifted off the ground. Emmaline couldn't remember the last plane she had been on, but she was sure it hadn't moved this fast or steadily. The jet had minimal windows, but the clouds were racing by much faster than she had expected.

Drew yawned widely. "I can't even remember being on a plane before," he mentioned to Emmaline.

"My thoughts exactly. Not afraid of heights, are you?" she teased. He rolled his eyes. Emmaline was relieved that they could still joke when her heart was still pumping gallons of adrenaline through her system. If this plane went down, first she'd reach and shield the whole back half of the plane. Then she'd consider saving the other mutants. "How far away are we?" she asked Bobby.

"Not far. It was lucky that we were already taking the jet out on a surveillance run around the school when he called," he said.

"Very lucky," Drew muttered sarcastically.

Once they had landed—much too suddenly for Emmaline's unaccustomed stomach—Storm turned to face the passengers. "Kurt, please take Scott to the med lab, and then grab the kid and take him to the Professor's office. You two, with me," she instructed. Kurt nodded and disappeared from his seat, making Emmaline wondered why he had even taken the jet back with them.

Emmaline and Drew quickly unhooked from their seats. Drew walked closer to the back of plane. "Hey, Jacob, this is David. We'll see you soon!" Drew called to Jamie. "All right, Jacob?"

"If I don't see you soon I swear I'm going to burn this place to the ground," Jamie called angrily. "Let me out!"

"Come on," Storm said. With one last look at the door separating Emmaline from Jamie, she followed Storm and Bobby out of the jet. The campus was beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight. Ivy crawled up the protective stone walls of the school, and the grass was littered with flowers. There were kids playing around the grounds, some demonstrating exactly why they were at a mutant academy. There was a young child with bright purple hair climbing one of the walls, quickly followed by a teleporter jumping from side to side around her. A trio of students was playing jump rope with an older girl's cordlike hair as she played chess with an opponent who moved the pieces without touching them.

"Students here are able to be themselves," Bobby said proudly, following Emmaline's gaze. "Everyone here can be themselves." She was impressed by the openness of the campus before she saw the iron gates at the front. The only way to be a safe mutant was to be completely secluded from reality. Emmaline adjusted her sunglasses self-consciously and averted her eyes from the children.

The interior of the school was equally bustling with activity and mutants. Storm and Bobby led them through the school, keeping as close as possible without being repelled by the shield kept firmly in place. "What do you think?" Emmaline muttered to Drew, who was looking around the rooms with a carefully blank face.

"It's…" Drew trailed off, giving Emmaline a sideways look. He sighed. "It actually seems nice. But not for me. I've already honed my powers."

Emmaline nodded, bending her shield to make passing room for the students as they moved into a smaller hallway. "This is the Professor's office," Bobby said, opening the door for them. Storm entered first, and then Drew and Emmaline followed.

Jamie was sitting in a chair across from a bald man with strikingly calm features. He turned to face them. "Emmy! D—David!" He faltered only briefly at the new name. "Have they told you about this place? We can stay here without charge or anything!"

"Mmhmm," Emmaline said noncommittally. "How are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he said. "Well, at first I was a little freaked out. But Professor Xavier explained that this is a boarding school just for mutants. I mean, we can actually have a home." He paused and turned back to the Professor. "They can stay too, right?"

"Of course," the man replied. "This is a haven for all mutants, no matter their age. All of your powers seem very strong. Emmy, James was just telling me about your remarkable shield. At first I wondered how I never saw three powerful mutants roaming around New York, but found out you've protected them for so many years. It is very impressive."

"Saw?" Emmaline asked. She was frustrated with Jamie's openness about his name and their abilities, but couldn't bring herself to glare at him when he looked so excited. She felt Bobby, Storm, and Kurt circled around them and defensively pushed her shield out another foot around her and Drew.

"I am a telepath. I can see all of the humans and mutants in the world, and the three of you had never been on the map until today. Even now, I cannot sense you or David," he explained.

"My name's Drew," he challenged suddenly. "I thought telepaths can read minds."

"Oh, I can, but my powers can't penetrate that bubble. Besides, it's not polite to point out such an obvious white lie," the Professor remarked easily. "Now, you two have seen the campus. Here you can learn to shape your powers to their full potential, along with being safe from prejudice from the outside world. Emmaline, since you're the only legal adult in this group—Jamie said you were twenty-three? —, you can make your own decision whether you stay here or leave. And we can not force Drew to stay, though he is under age—James said seventeen years old? James, however, seems to have already made up his mind. I hope you'll be staying with him?"

Jamie met Emmaline's eyes suddenly. She could see that he hadn't even considered that she and Drew might not stay with him. "Of course I'll stay," she said, speaking mainly to Jamie. "Here's your house for good," she shrugged.

"I'll stay too," Drew said. He met the Professor's eyes challengingly. "For now. But I'm not a prisoner here."

"Of course not. There will, of course, be moderate restrictions if you are enrolled as a student, but you are able to move on from the school at any time you're ready," the Professor said. "You and Jamie can room together in the student dormitories. Emmy, we have separate rooms for visiting adults. Bobby, could you show the boys to their rooms? We will send up your schedules tonight. Bobby can also give you a tour of the school." Jamie rose and stood next to Drew. Emmaline resisted from looping him back into her shield with difficulty. "Emmy, may I speak with you privately?"

Emmaline turned to Drew, who nodded. "Let me out. I'll be fine," he assured her.

She pulled her shield away from Drew slowly though it worried her to leave him out in the open and wrapped it around herself comfortingly. "I'll see you two later," she said reluctantly.

Jamie smiled at her and followed Drew and Bobby out of the room. Kurt followed, leaving Emmy alone with Storm and the Professor. "Please sit," he invited, gesturing to Jamie's vacated seat. Emmaline did so reluctantly. "Can you take off your sunglasses? I like being able to see people's eyes."

Emmaline paused, then quickly took off her shades and held them limply in her hand. The whites of her eyes were glowed faintly with an unnatural light and her irises were deep navy. Normally embarrassed by her strange appearance, she met his eyes defiantly. "And can you take down your shields?"

"I won't," she replied.

"I won't force you to. Some powers are uncontrollable, but you _can_ turn yours off and on?" he asked. Emmaline nodded. "The shape seems a bit unstable. Does it take much energy to hold?"

Emmaline looked him over sharply. Could he really read her mind or did Jamie let it slip how taxing it was for her to maintain the constant shield she had over the last six years? Sleeping with her eyes open all the time, having to eat double the amount of food. "Some," she said.

"It seems that you could use our help to train you to hold your shapes better. I know of some shielders who can hold them over two separate people. Once trained, you could be a valuable asset to our team. Are you open to that idea?"

Emmaline thought it over. She had already decided to stay—she couldn't abandon Jamie. "I guess it couldn't hurt to shape my power… I'll consider joining your 'team' once I've done that," she said.

"I can also give you the list of classes we have here, and you can attend any you'd like. If I'm not mistaken, you haven't attended school in several years?" Emmaline nodded once, glaring at him as though daring him to admonish her. "We can see if there are any classes you could take with James or Drew. Storm can show you your room and make up a training schedule for you. I'm very glad you decided to stay with us."

Emmaline nodded and stood. She paused. "Thank you," she forced herself to say. "This means a lot to Jamie."

The Professor smiled. "I hope it can come to mean the same to Drew and you."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Storm gave Emmaline a brief tour of the school, starting and ending with her new bedroom. It was a small and simple room, but all hers. After living for years in other people's houses, the mere permanence of the room made Emmaline love it. She tossed her duffel bag onto the bed and obediently followed the black woman around the mansion. The school had such a variety of rooms that eventually Emmaline simply maintained her shield an inch off her skin so she wouldn't block anyone else's way. She wasn't used to being alone in her protective bubble, and thoughts of Jamie and Drew on their own made her nervous.

Emmaline focused on memorizing the hallways and rooms, deciding she could appreciate the aesthetics of the old building once she could find her way around. There was a small kitchen stocked with snacks and drinks for the students, along with a bigger kitchen where the group meals were fixed (the chef was a mutant with a skill for slicing vegetables with five knives at a time—one in each hand). There was a dining hall with circular tables spaced evenly. There was plenty of room for all of the children at the school which was, as Storm had told her, around one hundred. "Dinner's at seven in the dining room," Storm told her. "Breakfast is at eight in the morning. Be here on time to get your food because mutants eat as much as any other adolescent."

"If you get seriously hurt, though it seems unlikely with that shield, this is the med lab. Most schools don't have this much technology, but most school don't have students that can cut people with their minds," Storm explained, walking with her into the sterile room. "Oh, you're still here, Scott?" she said with surprise, seeing the man Emmaline had 'met' earlier fiddling with a complex machine in the room. "I thought you'd desert us again as soon as you could," she added bitterly to Scott.

"Jean is dead," Scott snapped. "Am I not allowed a little time alone? I'm still here because the Professor asked me to check out this EEG. Dr. Reyes said that it's not been—oh, I recognize you," he said, noticing Emmaline. "So she wasn't sent by Magneto?"

"Apparently not," Storm said. "And other than electrocuting you, her little brother's not bad either."

"I told you," Emmaline muttered, crossing her arms.

"Well, if you were rogues then it's better you're here at the school anyway," Scott told her unsympathetically. "You did break in to my house."

"You survived," Emmaline said dryly. She turned to Storm. "Med lab, noted."

Storm led her out and down a hallway that looked much more high-tech than the older school upstairs. "This room is the training room," Storm said. "You need to be here at nine tomorrow morning. You'll be in a group of younger students so we can evaluate your powers before you try anything really dangerous. That room down there is the Danger Room—a battle-simulator. Eventually you'll be upgraded to there."

"And the rest of the rooms?"

"Not for you," Storm said shortly.

Once back in her personal room, Storm turned to leave, but paused. "The Professor can't read you through that shield," she said, "which means we still aren't sure you're safe. You're here on our hospitality—don't break our trust."

Emmaline nodded, but Storm didn't wait for an answer before leaving. Emmaline unpacked uncertainly—she still was new to the idea of her own room. While Drew easily got them any supplies they needed, they kept it minimal so they could pack and leave quickly in case one of the homeowners came home early. She scanned the room again, smiling to see everything where she put it and no one else's belongings taking up the space.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Emmaline sat in the student kitchen alone, tapping her fingers on the counter impatiently. She had told them nine o'clock. Had they been stopped on the way down? Maybe they just forgot. Maybe this whole school was just a trap—

"Emmy!" Jamie said, entering the kitchen. "Isn't this place great? Did you _see_ the pool?"

"Yeah, I did," Emmaline said, drawing Drew and Jamie into her shield and hugging them each tightly. "This place is… unique."

"I've seen some weird people here today," Drew said.

Jamie laughed. "I shoot lightning out of my fingers, Emmy's followed by a big bubble, and you Jedi mind-trick people. Weird people are my life. This place is, like, our extended weirdo family."

"What about you, Drew?" Emmaline asked.

Drew went to the fridge, grabbed three Cokes, and brought them to the counter. "It's all right," he said. "We were fine on our own, but we might as well crash here for a while."

Jamie read through Drew's nonchalance. "You love it here."

"Coolest place I've ever been," Drew admitted. "Emmaline?"

Emmaline paused. "If you two are happy, I'm happy. This is a much safer place to live than where we've been before," she said.

"And I'm going to learn to control my powers," Jamie said earnestly. "Think about it. If I had been able to control them I might not have…" He trailed off, face falling.

"That wasn't your fault," Emmaline said fiercely. "We've talked about this. But yes, your powers have room to grow. And who knows, maybe you'll be able to convince mutants too," she pointed out to Drew.

At the doorway of the kitchen someone collided solidly with Emmaline's shield. "What the hell?" Emmaline turned to see a scowling man glaring at her shield. There was the unsettling quiet sound of unsheathing knives and three bright blades bounced off the pale surface of the bubble. "Hey!" he said when his weapons were halted. He slashed down at the bubble with the same result. "What is this?"

"Who are you?" Emmaline asked. She stood up and approached the doorway within her shield. She hadn't seen him around the school and showed a surprising amount of violence if he was a teacher. If he was intruder she was going to have to find a way to shield the school without including this man.

"Logan. Who're you and why can't I get in the kitchen?" he growled, lashing out at her shield again angrily.

"We're new here," Drew said, coming to stand by Emmaline defensively. "Do you… work here?"

"Yes, I work here. I'm just back from a mission, I'm sore and tired, and I want a freaking drink. Let me in," Logan replied.

Emmaline pulled the shield in closer to her, Drew, and Jamie, but kept space between them and the man. She walked back to the counter, now confident in the shield between them, and sat next to Jamie, who was watching the man with wide eyes.

The man edged through the space between the shield and the cabinets towards the refrigerator. "Names?" Logan asked, pointing at them with his metal claws. He sheathed them to grab a Coke from the fridge and leaned against it. He wore a wife-beater and jeans and his body rippled with muscles and restrained energy.

"I'm Jamie. Are you the Wolverine?" Jamie asked. "I heard some kids talking about you."

"Yeah, I am. I'm also tired, as I mentioned. Hey, move that bubble over so I can sit down," he said, walking closer to the counter and patting the shield. "What is this thing even made of?" Emmaline shrugged and pulled it back closer to them, allowing one chair out of its range. He sat down in it, arm brushing the shield. He took a long drink out of the Coke bottle and sighed. "Students?" he affirmed.

"They are," Emmaline said, pointing to her companions.

"Which one of you is doing this?" he asked, eyeing the shield curiously. Of all the people they had encountered at the school, he seemed most intrigued by it, which unnerved Emmaline. When none of them answered, taking the cue from Emmaline, he commented, "It's not very circular." Unexpectedly, he sliced at it again. If the blades had gone through, they would have sliced Jamie's arm.

"Stop doing that!" Emmaline ordered.

"You can't just keep trying to attack us. I thought you worked here," Drew scowled.

"I do," Logan said. "Are you three related?" he asked.

"Yes," Emmaline lied. She didn't allow him to distract her with questions again. If he somehow got through her shield, she wanted to know when and how he did it. She'd never had a mutant test it so much. "Do you grill everyone like this? I hope not, or else they'd all be in ribbons." She glared at him, knowing her navy irises often intimidated people.

"Relax, I was just curious. I've had a long day, and just want some answers. Whatever," he said, gulping down the rest of his Coke. "I'm sure I'll find out eventually. Goodnight." He crushed the can easily in one hand and tossed in the trashcan over them. The can slid down the shield and into the trash.

Once he was gone, Emmaline sighed. "Are you positive you like it here?" she asked Jamie and Drew. Jamie nodded. "I figured. All right, time for bed."

As they walked down the halls, Emmaline stayed alert though Drew and Jamie were both obviously over the incident with Wolverine because they were talking animatedly about some of the more interesting mutants they had met that day. When they reached the boy's room, Emmaline said, "Well, goodnight."

Both boys gave her a brief hug, and then went into their room. Emmaline took a step in the direction of her room, and then paused. She carefully cast her shield backwards to include the boy's dorm room and sat down against the door. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, thinking about the tumultuous events of the day.

Only that morning they had been their own small family on the road. It wasn't a stable life, but it was safe, as long as Emmaline was there to watch over them. They had been through so much together over the last six years, and now she had to let them fend for themselves. They could take care of themselves, and Emmaline knew she was being over-protective, but…

Emmaline sat in the dark hallway, allowing the quietness of the school at night to calm her. Behind her, the door cracked open. "Emmaline, we can see the shield," Drew told her, smiling. "At least come in. I'll take the floor tonight."

_I would greatly appreciate some reviews…_


	3. Chapter 3

There were already three students in the training room when Emmaline arrived just before nine. None looked over fifteen, so Emmaline kept to herself, scoping the room while they talked to each other. It was lined with a track and there was a weight machine in one corner, but the middle of the room was relatively bare. The walls and high ceiling were littered with various stains from some sort of blue goo to scorch marks. Near the ceiling was a wide glass plane, revealing an empty observation room. Shield up as usual around her, Emmaline leaned against a wall and waited for an instructor to arrive.

By the time Storm strolled into the room at nine, three more students had arrived. "Good morning," Storm greeted. "As you may have noticed we have a new student. This is Emmaline." Emmaline nodded to the group of students, crossing her arms against the wall. She had put her sunglasses back on to hide her unusual eyes, but saw that her mutation was hardly the strangest of these students. One teen had a long tail that swished quietly on the floor behind her, while the boy next to her was a strange shade of orange. "You have ten minutes to stretch before we play."

"It's a battle day?" asked the girl with the tail eagerly, grinning at Storm.

"After last week I saw you all certainly needed the practice," Storm said, wiping the excited smile off the girl's face. "Stretch please."

Once the students were absorbed in various stretches, Storm approached Emmaline. "You may have a shield, but I'd prefer you participate in stretching too," she said reproachfully. "You agreed with the Professor that you'd train."

"None of these kids can get through my shield. _You_ couldn't," Emmaline reminded her. However, she pushed off the wall and began stretching. Storm left her to walk through the other students. As Emmaline lunged, she stared longingly at the track. Some of the houses they had stayed in had been equipped with treadmills, but that didn't compare to testing her legs on an open stretch. Unless both Drew and Jamie agreed, Emmaline never got to run anywhere by herself. Once she had loved to run as fast and far as she could. She shook the thoughts out of her head and focused on stretching. Look where running had gotten her last time.

"Jacob, Terry, Joan, and Emmaline, you're a team. The rest of you are the other side," Storm instructed.

"But we only have three. That's not fair," one kid with pale blonde hair complained.

"We're not an even number anymore," Storm pointed out. "Real life is rarely fair. All right, the main objective of each team is to capture the flag from the other side." Emmaline noticed a small purple flag resting on the floor of each side of the room. "Get on your respective sides. Defensive on your side, offensive on the other. Ready? Begin."

The girl with the tail immediately leapt into action, racing down Emmaline's side of the field. Emmaline, not very engaged with the childish game, watched as she passed her. The orange kid shot strange black vines from his hands, which wrapped around her tail. She howled and turned on him, deserting the flag.

Emmaline looked back over and saw a kid from her team, Jacob (who apparently was the source of the blue goo on the walls), scuttle on the wall towards the flag, but was pulled down by two of the other team.

"Emmaline, the objective is to _do something_," Storm called from the side of the room. "Shield someone! Be active." She looked irritated, and seemed to hardly notice the attempts of the other students to cross the room.

Emmaline kept her shield tight around herself and strolled across the room. Once she passed the invisible line on the other side of the room, she was met with an onslaught of attacks that were blocked easily by the shield. One student tried to jump on top of the bubble, but slid off on to the floor. Emmaline reached the flag, pushed her shield to include it, and picked it up and waved it to Storm.

The opposing team moaned. Storm stepped forward. "We have a winner," she said reluctantly. "And obviously that wasn't a fair game. Okay, new teams: Emmaline, you're with Billy and Joan. The rest of you are on the other side."

They separated back to their assigned sides. As Emmaline passed Storm, she said, "This time, don't touch the flags. Try to use your shield to help your _team_."

Emmaline nodded and took her place. She saw the movement of someone in the high observation window. Catching her gaze, Drew waved and gave her a thumbs-up. Emmaline smiled up at him and then looked to Storm. "Ready?" Begin," she instructed.

Emmaline stood just inside of her side of the line, watching everyone around her. Billy, the orange boy, crossed the line and raced towards the flag on the other side. Joan walked on the line, waiting for someone to come of her side. The girl with the tail hurried across, offensive again. Joan, across the room, backpedaled trying to catch up to the girl.

Emmaline looped her shield to include both girls. The girl with the tail rammed into the shield and fell back. Once Joan had caught up and engaged her in a fight, Emmaline released them from the shield and let Joan handle her own battle.

Seeing that the orange boy was being attacked on two sides by the opponents. She quickly gathered the closest teen into her shield so the orange kid could have a fair fight. The kid she held back glared at her, but by the time he decided to approach Emmaline to stop the shield from the inside, the orange boy had fought pasts his opponent and grabbed the flag, so Emmaline snapped her shield back before the teen could touch her.

"Very good. We have our winners!" Storm said. "Now if all of you could separate into sparring partners. Emmaline?" she gestured for her to approach. "That was creative," Storm told her, "and successful. I think you've proven that you're past this level. Come to the advanced training session tonight in the Danger Room at eight. I'm also going to recommend that you're started in private lessons for a while to see how far you can push that shield."

Emmaline nodded. "I'll be there tonight," she told Storm.

"Sparring won't help you. You can leave." Emmaline nodded and started towards the door. "Oh, and if all it takes is having one of your brothers watching to make you care, invite them to watch tonight," Storm added to her retreating back.

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Since she had missed breakfast, Emmaline was starving by lunch. She was a few minutes late—she had misjudged the distance from her bedroom to the dining room—but the tables were already crowded. She loaded a tray of rice, chicken and a delicious looking slice of coconut cake, grabbed a Coke, and scanned the tables for Drew and Jamie. To her surprise, they were not sitting together. Jamie was included in the midst of several mutants around his age and they were talking excitedly to each other.

The moment she caught sight of Drew's face across the room, she started moving quickly in his direction, tightening her shield to avoid the students and tables in her way. As she got closer, she could hear the other mutants at the table laughing. Drew's expression was as still and dark as a thundercloud.

"It's basically like you don't even have a power. 'Only non-mutants,'" one kid was saying loudly.

"These are not the droids you're looking for," said another, waving a hand far too close to Drew's face.

Emmaline got within range and quickly pushed her shield forward to include Drew, just in time. Drew collided with the edge of the shield, caught mid-leap towards the last speaker. He fell back into his chair and whirled to glare at Emmaline. "I can handle them."

Instead of answering Drew, Emmaline looked calmly at the students. "If you want to start something, I highly advise you take it outside." She plucked the fork from Drew's hand and showed it to the gape-mouthed students. "Drew fights to win. If you want to pick a fight, do so far away from kitchen utensils." Emmaline dropped the fork on Drew's tray and continued, "And if I show up it'll become a cage fight. Let's sit somewhere else. I don't like eating with idiots."

Drew glared one last time at the small group, and then grabbed his tray and followed Emmaline away from the table. "Jedi-boy needs his big sissy to come save him," scoffed a mutant from behind them.

Emmaline and Drew turned around together. Drew grinned icily and Emmaline nodded. "Go at it," she said, pushing out her shield to include the mocking boy.

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"Maybe we haven't made it clear enough. No fighting outside of practice!" Storm shouted, electricity crackling angrily on her skin.

Storm stood beside the Professor's desk, glaring at the occupants of the office. Drew and Emmaline stood defiantly together under her shield, while the other three students who had eventually joined the fight as allowed by Emmaline. Once the fight had started, a large number of the students in the cafeteria had tried to get through the shield to help their friends, but Emmaline only included people who had mocked Drew earlier. Needless to say, as they had been escorted from the cafeteria, Emmaline was especially glad she had Drew under her shield from the glares they were receiving.

"This is a school! Not a fight club!" Storm continued.

"As you can imagine, as a mutant sanctuary, the reputation of this school would be greatly tarnished if we permitted fighting here," the Professor said much more calmly. "We are advocating non-violent cooperation with the humans as of now, and this behavior sends a contradictory message. I understand that sometimes it seems like fighting's the only answer, but it rarely is."

"They attacked us," the mutant teen with a bloody nose and black eye said defensively. "We weren't doing anything." At the Professor's raised eyebrow, the boy backpedaled, "We didn't throw the first punch."

"That much is consistent," the Professor allowed. He faced Drew and Emmaline. "Even though you are both new here, that is not an excuse for violence." The mutants they had fought against were looking worse for wear, with two sporting bloody noses and one cradling his arm, all with Emmaline's lunch scattered through their hair and clothes. Her stomach protested that particular move. Drew had a handprint of hair ripped from his arm by a mutant that oozed superglue from his hands and a bruise on his head from where one mutant had used his extendable legs to knock Drew to the floor. Emmaline's stomach was bruised where the same mutant had thrown her into a chair and there was a cross-hatch pattern of cuts from super-speed slashes from the sharp nails of the last boy. They had all been taken to the Professor's office rather than the med lab to dole immediate punishment.

"This is where you give your excuse," Storm hinted at their silence. "And it had better be good."

On the various occasions when their housing plans has gone awry, Drew, Emmaline, and Jamie had faced the police. They soon learned that excuses, no matter how legitimate, made a difference to authority figures. "We threw the first punches," Drew admitted.

"Well, were you provoked?" Storm asked.

"We were just kidding," one of the kids interjected. "We weren't trying to cause a fight."

The Professor nodded. "Everything they've said has been true," he told Drew and Emmaline. "What is your side of the story?"

"There are only two possibilities," Emmaline said, stepping forward. "Number one, we attacked without prompt or motive. Number two, we had a legitimate reason. You know which one we would tell you. The actual question here is which one you're going to pick to believe." The mutants they had fought with gave each other side-long looks and smiled innocently at the Professor.

"That is a good point," the Professor said diplomatically, seemingly unshaken by Emmaline's defiant tone. "And I prefer to give everyone the benefit of the doubt."

"But…" Drew muttered to Emmaline.

"Each of you will have to help clean the dining room before dinner tonight and are on probation. Your ability to leave campus is withdrawn for the next month, and you will have to make up the lessons in the classes you missed today. Another incident of the kind by any of you will result in harsher punishments. Now, please get to the med lab to get your war wounds treated. You are dismissed," the Professor decided.

Drew and Emmaline exchanged surprised glances at the fact they hadn't been kicked out, but accepted the luck as it came and turned to the door.

"They tried to kill us," one boy complained behind them. "For all we know, they're spies here."

"He said you were dismissed," Storm said. "Get to the med lab."

Drew and Emmaline stayed ahead of the trio of students on the way to the med lab. "You're not going to be able to come with me everywhere," Drew told Emmaline quietly. "If there's another fight, you and Jamie need to stay out of it. I don't want Jamie to lose what he's got here because of me."

"Sorry to break it to you, but you're stuck with me," Emmaline said. "I've got your back no matter what. I'm not staying in any school that kicks you out." They turned into the hallway of the med lab. "And you've laid my fears to rest—you can kick ass without me or your powers."

"Your help was greatly appreciated, though," Drew grinned, opening the door and letting her enter first. He slammed it in the other mutants' faces.

A black woman was typing at a computer in the corner of the room. "You two don't look so great," she said, approaching them. The other three mutants came in behind them. "Well, it seems there either a strange, multi-faceted attack specifically on you five, or you got in a fight. Have you already talked to Professor X?" At their nods, she gestured for them to sit down on the row of metal tables. "I'm Dr. Reyes. Normally, our science teacher Hank McCoy is our resident doctor, but since he's off in DC I'm here until Professor X finds a replacement. Which of you is in the most pain?"

The boy with the broken arm tentatively called her over, and she addressed his arm quickly, setting and wrapping it efficiently while the rest of the mutants sat in silence on the cold metal tables. As the boy left, arm in a white cast, he glared fiercely at Emmaline, who had broken his arm with a well-place kick.

The bloody noses were not broken, so she gave the boys medicine for the swelling and bandages for their various other cuts. The super-glue boy sneered at Drew on his way out, but the boy with the extendable legs stayed behind. "It was cool of you two not to rat on us," he said. "I'm Jim."

"Emmaline and this is Drew," Emmaline introduced. The boy held out a hand, but Emmaline gestured to her shield and shook her head. "This thing doesn't come down just because you tell us your name."

"All right," Jim said calmly. "I guess I'll you around."

"Bye," Drew grunted.

As Jim left, Dr. Reyes knocked on the shield impatiently. "I can't treat patients without touching them," she said. "Take it down."

Instead of obeying the order, Emmaline extended the shield to include the woman. None of their injuries were extensive, so the exam was quick. She put anti-bacterial gel on Emmaline's cuts ("Never know how clean boy's hands are," the doctor said), and gingerly checked Drew's head. She considered keeping him for observation in case he had a concussion, but they convinced her that they were all right.

"If your cuts get infected or you start getting dizzy, come back here," the doctor instructed. Emmaline pulled her shield hack in just around herself and Drew. "The best way to prevent this problem from reoccurring is to relax and stop fighting. You're new—they wanted to see how far they could push you. You've proven you can fight back, so they'll leave you alone now. If not, talk to a teacher. The X-Men may not be pacifists, but we pick our battles. I hope I _don't_ see you again."

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After quickly cleaning the dining room, Drew and Emmaline stuck together over the next hours, though no one openly confronted them. Mutters started when they entered the room, some suspicious and some awed. From the tidbits Emmaline heard, she gathered that few of them had ever seen a truly malicious fight.

The least crowded room they found was a ping-pong room. The only occupants were Bobby, who she had met the day before, and a girl with long gloves and a white streak in her hair. Both Bobby and the girl looked close to twenty, older than Drew but younger than Emmaline.

"Mind if we watch?" Emmaline asked, gesturing to their casual match.

"Go ahead. Rogue, this is Emmaline and Drew. The ones I was telling you that we found yesterday," Bobby said.

"I hear you gave some jerks what for," Rogue said. "I'd highly commend you except as an 'official' member of the X-Team, I think I have to act stern and disapproving."

Drew nodded. "That seems to be the expression I've seen."

Bobby shrugged. "Well, I was a table down. They deserved what they got. That was a great use for a shield. You should have seen it, Rogue."

"I'll get to see it in action tonight. You're still coming to the advanced session, right?" Rogue asked, serving the ball to Bobby.

"That's the plan. There's not much I can practice with this power, though," Emmaline said, watching the ball bounce back and forth.

"It's about learning to fight without resorting to your powers," Rogue said. "Have you heard what my power is?" At their negative replies, she continued, "I drain people's power with my hands. But I can't go around killing everyone who makes me mad. I wear these gloves and fight fair."

"That makes sense," Emmaline said.

Rogue scored the ball past Bobby. "You distracted me!" he complained. "You two need to stop being so interesting."

Drew and Emmaline watched the game for a while, and Drew jumped in to play the winner, which was Rogue. Since he had been playing the same two people for the last two years, Rogue's different method led to Drew's quick defeat.

Bobby checked his watch. "It's almost dinnertime. You guys must be starving—I saw how your lunch was more on your enemies than in your stomachs."

"Why don't you sit with us tonight?" Rogue invited.

Drew and Emmaline accepted the offer and went to the dining room with the other two mutants. Both Drew and Emmaline filled their trays to the point of overflowing. Bobby and Rogue sat a table with several other teens their age, all of whom graciously made room for Drew and Emmaline at the table and in their conversation.

When Jamie walked in, Emmaline waved, smiling, but he looked away quickly and kept talking to his new friends. Deciding to talk to him later, Emmaline conversed with Drew and the other mutants. They were all friendly and open, which was relaxing after the tension at lunch.

Once they had finished dinner, it was time for Emmaline to go to her practice. She took Storm's advice and invited Drew to come down if he got bored and asked him to extend the invitation to Jamie as well.

The group separated just before the Danger Room into dressing rooms. The only girl other than Rogue and Emmaline was a girl named Kitty. Emmaline was given a spare uniform, which fit surprisingly well. "They're new. They mold to the wearer," Rogue told her.

"It's a waste of technology," Emmaline pointed out as they walked into the large Danger Room. Storm and the boys were already waiting for them. "I don't plan on being exposed for a second."

"The main rule in the Danger Room is to take all the precautions you would in real life. And in real life, we wouldn't let you out on a mission without a uniform. They protect against basic injuries and help us identify the good guys," Storm said, entering the conversation.

Emmaline nodded unconvinced and looked around. In addition to Bobby, Kitty, and Rogue, there were two other mutants: Remy and Piotr, who had both joined them for dinner.

Storm looked around. "So, we're just waiting on…" The doors opened and a man stepped in. It was Logan, the mutant who had attacked her shield the night before. "On time as usual," Storm said sarcastically.

"Always," he agreed.

"We've got a new trainee. This is Emmaline. Emmaline, this—"

"We've met," Logan interrupted, finally seeing Emmaline. "So, it's your shield."

"Oh, well, Logan is our combat instructor. He and I will both be on your team tonight, but it's supposed to be you six working together," Storm said, shooting a glare at Logan. "All right, the objective is to defeat the robots. There are twenty of them, so don't stop until they're all out. Understand?"

Emmaline nodded uncertainly. Storm went to a computer on the wall and began typing on the keyboard. The other mutants were preparing, stretching or testing their powers. Logan was staring at her. She ignored him and watched Storm. When the lights began to dim, she took off her sunglasses and placed them in her hair.

Suddenly, a scene of destruction flicked into life before her. It was a city street, though barely visible in the smoke-laced night air. The street was eerily empty. Cars were abandoned in the roads, some crashed and some porting long scorch marks. The mutants around her moved forward immediately, eyes sharp and searching.

The smell of charred wood gave Emmaline horrified chills down her back and she had to close her eyes to tell herself it was all fake. "Are you coming?"

Emmaline opened her eyes and looked up at Logan. "Yeah," she said quietly. She shook herself. "Let's go."

They jogged together to catch up to the rest of the group. Sounds of metal crunching and things exploding grew louder as they got closer. The hood of a car flew through the air. Logan rolled out of the way as the fiery metal hit Emmaline's shield and slid onto the road in front of her. She walked around it and approached the fight. The robots glinted silver, though dulled in places from the smoke. Slightly shorter than the average human, they had four arms, one of which seemed to light the fires. Bobby had already frozen two robots into solid ice, and Emmaline suddenly understood his nickname. The other mutants were all engaged in combat with two or three of the robots each.

Emmaline saw one approaching her and paused. She was safe in her shield. Why should she fight? When the robot found it could not reach her through her shield, it gave up and turned back towards the others. Emmaline knew she couldn't not fight and leave the others with one more enemy to fight.

Emmaline focused her shield toward the robot and, as it wheeled in front of a burnt cement building, struck out with her shield. Rather than including the robot, she pushed it backed with the solid edge and rammed it into the building. Metal popped and scraped as the robot was pressed into a flat sheet on the wall.

After making sure the robot was out of commission, Emmaline pulled her shield in and joined the others. She saw Rogue being attack by robots on three sides and losing. Recalling the success in her earlier training session, Emmaline looped Rouge and one of the robots into her shield. Emmaline was impressed by Rogue's aptitude for hand to hand fighting, carefully avoiding the arm with the flames.

The fight moved closer to Emmaline within in shield, but she remained confident she could pull her shield back if the robot got too close to her. Just then, the robot caught Rogue with a cuff to the head and she sprawled back, unconscious.

While Emmaline gaped, her brain raced through her situation. The robot inside her shield would soon see and attack her. If she excluded the robot, she would also have to exclude Rogue because she was on the other side of the robot to Emmaline.

As the robot turned towards her, Emmaline made her decision. She would never abandon anyone again.

_I would really appreciate reviews! (It might encourage me to update more quickly…)_


	4. Chapter 4

Emmaline took an unsteady breath and stood her ground as the robot approached, hoping the Danger Room couldn't kill people. When the robot got close, Emmaline pushed the shield outwards and ran as fast as she could to the farthest end. Two steps deep she tapped into the super-speed she hadn't used in years. In a blur, she was across the shield. She could only extend the shield a few dozen feet, so she waiting until the robot was close to her until she ran to the other side. Annoyingly, the robot stayed between her and Rogue so she couldn't exclude it. The flames it touched to the ground in its wake licked her heels.

The robot quickly moved across the shield, leaving a line of fire that blocked Emmaline from running towards Rogue. To keep Rogue safe, she couldn't give herself any more room within the shield to run. Emmaline darted back and forth in the curved edge of the shield, breath coming short as the robot got closer, fire blocking any escape behind it.

"Let me in!" Logan shouted, directly beside her on the other side of the shield.

Emmaline glanced back at the approaching robot and nodded. "You have to come forward," Emmaline said. "I can't push it out any more."

Emmaline allowed him to walk through the shield's barrier. Immediately, he leapt at the robot, claws ripping it cleaning into pieces. Emmaline shook herself to rid herself of her fear. "Thank you," she said.

He shrugged. "No problem. He gestured to Rogue, barely visible past the fire blazing in the middle of the shield. "She'll be fine. Injuries are simulated too." Emmaline sighed and nodded. "Looks like Piotr just finished up the last two."

The lights brightened and the scene of fire faded away. Rogue sat up, groaning. "Knocked out again?" she complained, standing up and dusting off her uniform.

"Great job," Storm said to the group. None looked close to as shell-shocked as Emmaline felt. She looked at the clean white room where fear had reigned moments before.

Rogue walked towards Bobby, but was blocked by the shield. "Um, can I get out?" she asked, knocking on the bubble.

"Right," Emmaline said, snapping her shields in tight to her body.

Logan flinched as the shield passed over him. "The robots are gone now," Logan told Emmaline, gesturing to her retained shield.

"She doesn't take it down," Bobby told him as he passed them with Rogue.

Emmaline followed them towards the door. "You can't take it down?" Logan asked, keeping pace with her.

"Won't," Emmaline said tersely.

"Why not?" he asked, walking closer to her.

She bumped out her shield more so he had to take a step sideways. "I'm in a school full of mutants. Excuse me if I don't want to let anyone attack me," she snapped.

"Defensive," he noted, and laughed when Emmaline stalked away to the girls' dressing room.

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Emmaline could hear the yelling from the hallway over, and picked up her pace. It was past eleven o'clock, and tired students were sticking their heads out of the door to find the source of the commotion. She was almost at the door when Drew stormed out. His face was pale and his were clenched in trembling fists. "What happened?" Emmaline demanded worriedly.

"Don't talk to him," Drew advised as he left the hallway.

"To Jamie…?" she asked to his retreating back. Emmaline entered the room and saw Jamie angrily pacing. "What was that about? Who made him so mad?" The room was empty. "Is he mad at you?"

"No," Jamie replied. "I'm mad at you! How could you guys start a fight? You knew how much I wanted to stay here."

"We barely got in trouble," Emmaline said, confused. She had rarely seen Jamie so upset.

"Well, all my friends keep talking about you. I had to tell them that we had just met.'

"That _we_ had just met?" Emmaline asked. "Jamie, why would you do that?" What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is you just set me up to be the friend of the two new punks. Everyone's friends with Kev, Jim, and Cory, those guys you beat up. Like it's not hard enough to make friends. You guys completely embarrassed me!"

Emmaline closed her gaping mouth. "Are you serious? You know we didn't just attack them. You're _embarrassed_ by us?" She floundered for words.

"This is my first chance to belong somewhere, and you two are going to ruin it for me," Jamie complained.

"So you're just going to pretend you don't know us? That we haven't been family for six years?" Emmaline felt deflated and helpless watching Jamie's angry face.

"We're mutants, but we don't have to be freaks," Jamie said bitterly. He turned from her, arms crossed, and refused to look at her.

Emmaline wanted to shout or laugh or cry, but felt just empty. Her goal the last six years had been to protect him, and her heart shattered seeing him throwing their relationship away. "We'll talk in the morning once you've calmed down," she said faintly, backing out of the room. Jamie snorted and didn't turn around.

Emmaline found Drew in the student kitchen, which luckily was empty considering he looked ready to attack the next person he saw. She grabbed an open can of Pringles from the pantry and sat down next to Drew. She cautiously included him in her shield, but he didn't object. They sat in silence for several minutes, watching the seconds tick by on the white clock over the door frame. "I still won't blame you if you leave," Emmaline told him, eating another chip, trying to appear casual.

"But you're staying here." Emmaline knew it was a question.

"I can't abandon him," Emmaline said simply.

"He's abandoning us. He thinks everyone will alienate him if he sticks up for us. I know you want to keep pretending he's our family—"

"He is my family now," Emmaline snapped, slamming the chip can on the counter.

"He _killed _your family!" Drew shouted.

There was silence in the kitchen. Emmaline stood up, setting the Pringle can deliberately back into the pantry. "I told you not to talk about that," she said quietly, still facing away from him.

"I used to think you were strong for forgiving him and taking him in. It wasn't strength—it was weakness," Drew said.

"We're not talking about this," Emmaline said again, voice breaking.

Seeing her tears, Drew stood and hurried to her, pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry," he said into her hair. "I didn't mean it."

"I know," she said quietly. Once her tears had dried, she pulled back, smile wavering. "Are you leaving?"

"No," he promised. "You won't leave Jamie, and I won't leave you, so it looks like we're stuck here." Emmaline smiled and hugged him again.

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Storm pulled out a clipboard. "How long have you been aware of mutation?" she asked. She sat across the small table from Emmaline in the observation room overlooking the Training Room.

"Since I was around ten… so thirteen years," Emmaline estimated, tapping her foot on the floor. She didn't like this interrogation, but Storm had told her she couldn't be personally trained until they had a broader understanding of her mutation.

"Logan said you have super-speed in addition to your shield?" Storm said, looking up from her clipboard. Emmaline nodded. "Did you experience any physical changes because of your mutation?"

"My eyes," Emmaline said, gesturing. "They're only like this when my shield's up."

"Which is always," Storm said, a smile quirking her lips. Emmaline nodded shortly. "Does using your power drain you physically, mentally or emotionally?" she continued. Emmaline paused, sitting back in the chair and eyeing Storm distrustfully. At her silence, Storm met her eyes. "I'm not looking for your kryptonite," she promised. "We just need to know any side-effects of extensive training. You're not an official student, but we're in charge of your well-being here."

"I'm not really sure," Emmaline admitted. "I haven't taken it down in six years. I've been more stressed and emotional since I started keeping it up, but that seemed natural considering the circumstances." She hurried on, "Anyways, I'm not sure if my shields drain me."

"How much sleep do you need to feel reenergized?" Storm asked.

"Around eleven hours." At Storm's surprised look, she amended, "But that's just because I don't deep sleep. I have to make sure my shield stays up."

Storm spoke carefully. "You stay in a shallow sleep so you can keep your shield up overnight? Is that intentional or subconscious?"

"Intentional," Emmaline answered. "Does my sleep pattern really matter for my training?"

"It might," Storm said evasively. "Do you dream?"

"No,"

"You consciously stop yourself from entering REM so you can maintain your shield," Storm said, jotting on her clipboard.

Emmaline watched her face. "Is there something wrong with that?" she asked.

"No, not necessarily. I'm just supposed to write down anything that seems abnormal," Storm said. "Are you updated on all of your shots?" she continued.

"Yes. I've been to the doctor regularly," Emmaline told her.

"This isn't an official question, but I'm curious. Did the doctor never notice your shield?" she asked, gesturing to the faint outline around Emmaline.

Emmaline grinned. "Drew made sure no one remembered," she said proudly.

"A handy talent for a team of homeless mutants," Storm muttered, writing on the clipboard. Emmaline's smile fell to a scowl. "Well, I think we can move on to some tests of your abilities. Go on down to the training room. I'll be watching from here."

Emmaline went down to the connected room. Without the other students, Emmaline felt lonely in the middle of the large room. "I'm just going to record some basic data. Please extend your shield out as far as you can in all directions," Storm asked.

Emmaline looked at the big room. It was at least as big as ten average rooms combined, but since she usually made Drew and Jamie stay within two rooms of her she didn't know how much she could extend it without obstacles. She extended the shield at a moderate pace until she couldn't extend it more. It inched another small amount, but stopped soon. "That's it," Emmaline said. Keeping it so large was straining her and a pressure like a headache was building behind her temples.

"Please hold it so I can record the dimensions," Storm said over the intercom. There was a paused, and she told Emmaline, "35 feet in diameter. Are you experiencing any discomfort?"

"Yes," Emmaline grated.

"Reduce your shield to a comfortable position and explain the discomfort. "Emmaline did so," and Storm replied. "Interesting."

"Why is that relevant?" Emmaline asked.

"It means your shield is a mental manifestation. I assumed it'd be physical because of your speed. Now please extend your shield as long as you can, only wide enough to include yourself."

Storm made Emmaline shape the shield into a series of sizes and shapes. She quickly learned—as Emmaline already knew—that Emmaline couldn't shield in any non-geometric shapes.

"This data suggests you can include the same volume no matter what shape you shield in," Storm told her. "Can you shield only a specific part of your body?" Emmaline paused, and then tried to pull the shield away from her feet, but nothing happened. "Looks like it's all or nothing with you," Storm said. "So let's see nothing."

Emmaline snapped her gaze to the observation room. "That wasn't part of the deal," she said.

"I told you I was going to test your power," Storm said calmly. Emmaline crossed her arms stubbornly. "What are you afraid of?" Storm asked. "You're alone in an enclosed room. The walls are like your shield. I just want to see where the shield is absorbed into."

The logic of the argument was apparent to Emmaline and she couldn't think of a reason not to, but the idea of taking down her shield terrified her. It was the one stable thing she could rely on. "No."

Storm looked down at her defiant figure for a quiet moment, and then shook her head. "Now, what about the speed?"

She timed Emmaline running different distances around the room. Emmaline completed the assignments quickly and waited for it to end. "Does running cause you physical discomfort?" Storm asked.

Emmaline, breathing harder but still stable and energized, said, "No, I'm fine."

"It's just that you seem to not like running. Most speedsters jump on assignments to run, and sometimes even refuse to stop. You run like it's a job—an extremely distasteful job," Storm said.

"I don't like running. It's personal," Emmaline said shortly. "Are those all the tests?"

"Yes. One more question—I assume you consider shielding your dominant power?"

"Yes."

Storm wrote down her answer and said, "You're free to go. I'll try to find a mutant with similar powers to train your powers. Remember that at two o'clock you're back in here for your personal fight training. We'll move you up to group lessons once you can hold your own." Emmaline nodded and turned for the door. "You'll have to let your instructor in your shield," she reminded her.

Emmaline looked up at her and nodded reluctantly. "I'll be here."

"I'll be in touch about your personal tutor," Storm said. "Go get some lunch. Sorry for letting you out a little late."

Despite the several hours of work, Emmaline felt more rejuvenated than she had in a long time. The tables were already beginning to clear by the time Emmaline got to lunch, but Drew was still waiting at the table for her. "You just missed the others," Drew said. "They're off to class, but my next one isn't until two."

"Me either," Emmaline said, sitting down next to him. "How's your day been?"

She ate as he talked, less hungry than she thought she would b. "When I'm with Piotr, no one messes with me. He's really cool, but sort of a goody-goody." Drew spoke fondly of him, and Emmaline was glad to hear he was making friends despite yesterday. "Anyways, how did your tests go?"

"Fine. Nothing new." She paused. "Do you dream?"

"Sometimes," Drew said. "I usually only remember nightmares." Emmaline nodded thoughtfully. "Jamie's still not talking to me," Drew added tightly.

Emmaline sighed. "Did he say anything?"

"No. He left the room before me and won't meet my eyes," Drew said.

"He'll get over it," she said hopefully.

Drew shrugged. "He's only thirteen," he reasoned. "Maybe he's just having a mood swing." He sighed and met Emmaline's eyes sadly. "No one stays nice forever."

_**Please review! **_


	5. Chapter 5

"Hey," Logan greeted when Emmaline walked into the training room. He stepped away from a punching bag which had been set up since she had been in the room earlier to turn to her. He was in a similar outfit to last night; a pair of loose sweat pants and a wife-beater that hugged his muscles, which Emmaline had to admit were perfectly sculpted.

She jerked her gaze up from his body. "Wait, what are _you_ doing here? I thought this was a private lesson."

He smirked. "I'm the combat teacher, remember? Now, how much do you work out? You're obviously fit," he said. Emmaline was suddenly extremely conscious of her soffees and tank top workout ensemble as he looked her over.

"A bit. I used to play tennis, and wanted to stay in shape. The boys and I hung out at the Y a lot," she said.

"Good. Then you should be able to stretch without my help. Let me know when you're ready to start,." He turned back to the punching bag.

Emmaline shrugged and sat down quietly. The room was silent except for the rhythmic hits on the punching bag. She stretched thoroughly, postponing the lesson. Of all the teachers, why did Logan have to be her personal trainer? Since that first night he had been eager to get past her shield for whatever reason. His attention was unnerving, especially since she was used to Drew making anyone who showed too much interest forget her existence.

Once she could not find another muscle to stretch, she stood and turned to Logan. "Ready." She hoped she didn't sound as dejected as she felt.

"The most important part of hand-to-hand combat is protecting yourself. There's no fight if you're out. No, ignore you have the option of a shield. Keep your fists in front of your face, like this." He demonstrated the stance and she copied him. "Raise them a touch more… all right. Now, honor is an important quality in an X-Man," he said, "but when you're fighting for your life, fight dirty. I heard about your fight yesterday," he commented suddenly.

Emmaline shrugged. "And?"

"The only reason you won is because you took a group of cocky teenagers by surprise. Real life? They'll be ready and dangerous. I'm going to teach you basic fighting moves: how to punch, how to kick, and where to hit them to take them down," he said. He gestured to a pair of dummies set up behind the punching bag. "I'll show you on mine."

Emmaline walked over and circled the dummy into her shield. She kept the bubble narrow so Logan could fight the one beside her. She was confused but grateful for his hands-off teaching method. "If you were in a fight, where would you hit first?"

Emmaline struck out and her fist connected solidly on the dummy's face. "Good, but your fist is wrong. Look," he said, showing her his fist.

He taught her various fighting techniques. At first, he spoke solely of the exercise, but once Emmaline was practicing the basics, they were able to talk about other things. He was a good teacher and funny to talk to. He spoke his mind bluntly, and Emmaline answered his questions with honesty, grateful for the conversation to distract herself from the repetitive fighting drills.

"So you lived with your brothers?" Logan asked as she practiced her kicks.

"They're as good… as brothers," Emmaline admitted between kicks. "And yes."

"How'd you pick Scott Summer's house out of everyone in that neighborhood? Is your luck just that bad?" he asked, laughing.

"We pick…by how many people we guess will…miss their absence. Unfriendly… single men like him… are what we look for. Didn't know… he was a mutant."

"And you never ran into a mutant before?"

"Well yes, but not one with a gang of others… at his beck and call… So maybe, yeah, our luck is really that bad." Emmaline hit the dummy with more force than before, rocking it backwards.

"Good shot. Remember to keep your guard up though," Logan commented. "But  
Scott's powers couldn't cut through your shield," she stated.

"I had to loop him in for Drew's power to reach him, but Scott didn't even use his power. What is it?" she asked, moving to uppercuts.

"Lasers from his eyes," Logan said flippantly. "So, no powers in or out of your shield?"

Emmaline glanced over and saw him staring at her shield calculating. She snapped her shield in closer to her, away from her and the dummies and said, "What, is this training and an interrogation?" Logan crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "I don't know what your problem is. You shouldn't take it as a personal challenge just because you can't get in." He had no defense. He just watched her getting angrier. "These combat lessons are a waste of time. I don't plan on letting you or anyone else getting close enough to hurt me!" She ended in a shout.

He scowled. "Then how come last night I had to jump in there and save your ass?" He ran a hand through his dark hair. "You're too honorable to leave somebody out in danger just to save your own skin. Unless you plan on getting a personality transplant, you'll be back here tomorrow, same time, same place, to learn how to protect yourself from your own kindness." He turned to the door, but then turned back to face her. "And I'll ask whatever questions I want." He stormed out of the room.

"Well, stop trying to get past my shield!" she shouted after him, words echoing in the large room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

On their walk to dinner, the first students worked up the courage to confront Drew and Emmaline. They were talking easily within the shield when a kid stepped in front of the shield. The student was around Drew's age of seventeen, but was tall and bulky enough to block the width of the small hallway and sported spiked blue hair. Emmaline remembered him sitting at the table that had taunted Drew.

"Yes?" Emmaline asked, stopping with her shield less than an inch away from his face.

He just crossed his arms and scowled past her to Drew. Drew clenched his fists and looked to Emmaline, but she shook her head. They turned around to leave, but saw the two boys they had fought were blocking the rest of the narrow hallway.

Emmaline looked past them to see other students hurrying away from the confrontation, as though ignoring it made them guiltless. "Huh," she said. "I guess I'm forced to fight you since you're standing there. Oh, wait, no I don't."

She pushed her shield forward and nudged the boy in front gently backwards, using less force than she had to crush the robot the night before. He slid backwards on the slick wood as she walked calmly forward. The boy leaned forward and pushed against the shield, but ended up slipping onto the floor, pushed along on all fours. Drew snickered quietly, but none of the increased efforts of the students could get past the shield. Emmaline paused by an open doorway. The boy scrambled to his feet, flushed red. "Move," she said.

The boy looked past her to the boys behind, shrugged, and entered the open room, leaving Emmaline's path clear. As she passed him she nodded to him—not gratefully, but acknowledging that he had made the right choice. Though the other two boys stayed close, they slinked away from Emmaline and Drew when they entered the crowded dining room.

As they got their food, Emmaline muttered, "You look like you're contemplating murder. Stop—you're freaking out the little mutants."

Drew sighed. "You should let me fight them. We beat them before."

"You may be the same age as they are, but they are so much younger than you. I bet they've never been shunned for what they are. And they could never survive on their own, like we have." She gave Drew a comforting punch on the arm. "We both know you _could_ take them, but they're not worth the effort."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

To Emmaline's surprise, when she entered the Danger Room with the other students, she saw Storm, Logan, and Scott talking intensely in the center of the room. They were talking with sharp gestures and dark expressions.

"Scott?" Kitty said. The teachers turned to look at them. Storm smiled but Logan and Scott stayed stone-faced. "Are you teaching us?" she asked.

Scott nodded, his face drawn tight. "Something has come up," he said. "Magneto—"

"The details aren't important," Storm interrupted, giving Scott a pointed glare. "We want to be prepared for any possibility, and the Professor asked Scott to return as tactics teacher. Hopefully none of you will have to see the field."

"We want to help," Bobby argued. "We're part of the team now."

"We're not even sure anything's going to happen, so let's face that issue when we get there," Storm said. "Either way, you're up to three teachers, so you'd better be prepared to learn."

This time when the simulation began, Emmaline didn't let herself panic. The situation was different in small ways; a forest instead of a city, and five giant robots instead of twenty smaller ones, but the basics were the same: fire, darkness, and fear. Emmaline stayed near Rogue, avoiding looking at Logan or Scott. Her last confrontation with both of them had been unpleasant.

They moved quickly through the forest. Emmaline stumbled on a branch and fell heavily. Though her knees were protected by the uniform, her hands scraped roughly. The pain, though simulated, felt real. The others had kept going, but Storm paused by her. "Are you okay? Couldn't see?"

"I can see well enough. I'm just a bit tired," Emmaline admitted, standing up. "But it's just a scrap." Storm nodded, lips pressed, and motioned for her to continue forward.

When they the clearing the tall robots were in, Emmaline soon found that she was lucky Scott had not used his power against her group. The lasers he shot out sliced cleanly though the heavy metal legs of one of the robots. The nearest robot retaliated by crashing a large arm through the trees overhead, sending thick branches falling towards the small group. Rogue dove forwards, Logan jumped up to cut the branches, and Scott zapped out towards the biggest branches were stopped by Emmaline's hasty thrown shield. Rogue and Logan both hit the shield solidly, leaving Logan cursing and Rogue grabbing her head and moaning. Scott's laser beam was absorbed safely into the shield.

Only Bobby, Kitty, and Piotr looked grateful for her quick save, so Emmaline pulled her shield into herself again as soon as the last of the branches had hit the forest floor. The rest of the exercise proceeded smoothly and successfully Bobby's power was particularly effective against the robots. Rogue looked eager to help, but neither she nor Emmaline could contribute to the fight.

By the time the lights rose and the battle scene faded, Emmaline was feeling useless. Her powers were for running and hiding, not fighting. Rogue also looked frustrated, but Bobby went to her to talk, and they left the room together, holding hands through Rogue's white glove. Remy, Piotr, and Kitty were recapping the battle enthusiastically as they left the room and Emmaline was reluctant to join in their conversation.

"What do you think of the school so far?" Emmaline turned and saw Scott. He was clean-shaven now and less haunted than the first time she had seen him. His tone was friendly and casual, surprising after his previous bitterness. She couldn't see his eyes behind his red sunglasses, but trusted the honesty of his smile.

"It's one-of-a-kind," Emmaline said diplomatically.

"So that means you hate it," Scott said, smiling.

Emmaline paused, giving the idea serious consideration. "For me, the school is… useful."

Scott shrugged and nodded. "You didn't come here on the best terms, but I'm not sorry. I think it really will be useful… and you might even end up liking it. We could use someone like you on the team."

Emmaline raised her eyebrows. "I didn't really help you much tonight," she informed him.

"In real life, not everyone can take care of themselves. A modern war is like hide-and-seek, and you would be our base. I'm a strategy expert—I realize that the fighters aren't always the most important," Scott said.

"She won't talk about her shield," Logan said, joining the conversation.

"I wasn't going to ask," Scott told Emmaline. The tension that shot through his body when Logan got near told Emmaline that there was no friendship between the two mutants.

Logan snorted. "She made your light show disappear. You're not curious how?"

"It's her power," Scott said calmly. "Not all of us get bruised egos when someone proves we're not omnipotent. In the business you should have learned by now that there's always someone out there that can beat you."

"She didn't _beat_ me," Logan scoffed. He crossed his arms and scowled at Scott.

Storm finished de-programming the room and approached the small circle of mutants. "Please make sure they don't kill each other," she told Emmaline, rolling her eyes. She paused by edge of their conversation circle, staring at Emmaline as though about to say something else, but shook her head once and just said, "Goodnight you guys," before leaving the room.

Once Storm was gone, Scott turned to Emmaline. "Will you help me prove a point?" he asked. Emmaline anEmmyzed his honest—if mischievous—smile, and nodded. "All right. Logan—you against me. Emmaline's on my side."

"What's the prize?" Logan asked.

"I'll get to laugh that I beat you from now," Scott said.

"All right," Logan said. "Go." His claws were unsheathed before Emmaline could blink and he jumped for Scott.

Scott faltered, stepping back instead of forward, and his hands were away from his sunglasses. Instinctively, Emmaline looped her shield around him, leaving Logan to slam into the bubble for the second time in under an hour.

Eyes on Scott, Logan sliced at the shield, claws stopping each time, which made him hit continually harder. Scott leaned in to Emmaline. "When I give you the signal, drop the shield for two seconds, then pull it back up." Outside, Logan was trying to find a weak spot, moving around the shield. Emmaline nervously pushed him a little further away from her and Scott.

Scott backed to the side of the shield furthest from Logan and said, "Now." In the seconds the shield was away from Scott, he sent a laser beam calmly into Logan's chest, who was already lunging towards him, and then was safe within the shield again.

Logan fell to the ground, blood pumping from the wound too close to his heart for comfort. "You killed him!" Emmaline shouted. She immediately left Scott in the open and shielded Logan instead. She hurried towards him, but stopped when he rolled over and stood up. Emmaline saw that though his uniform was covered in blood, his exposed skin was whole.

"I win," Scott said evenly. Seeing that, somehow, Logan was all right, Emmaline pulled her shield back over herself only. "And it was thanks to Emmaline. So technically, she beat you."

"How are you…?" Emmaline asked Logan, gesturing to his continued survival.

"I heal," Logan replied. Though at first he scowled at Scott, he was now looking at Emmaline, a smile tugging on his lips.

"What?" she asked suspiciously.

"You said you'd never let me into your shield. That's twice today," he noted. "Told you that you were too honorable to leave me out."

"That's not a bad thing. I wouldn't save you," Scott snapped. Emmaline didn't doubt him. "You know what your problem is? You can't accept reality. People are who they are. People _love_ who they love. You can't change it." He forcibly turned to Emmaline. "See, I told you we could use your shield to win. I'm looking forward to working with you." His smile was less open than before and he sent a parting scowl at Logan before storming out of the room.

"That all was before I knew you could heal," Emmaline said, smiling triumphantly. "You are never going to _need_ my shield, so I won't feel bad leaving you out now."

"That's a good point, but you're forgetting one thing," Logan said.

"Yes?"

"When push comes to shove, you're not going to leave me in danger just because I can heal. Like I said, honorable."

"We'll see," Emmaline said, leaving the Danger Room quickly.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Emmy?" The voice floated on the edge of her consciousness. Her eyes snapped open, wakened easily from her light sleep, and she looked over to the figure in the doorway. The hallway beyond was even darker than her room so she couldn't distinguish the face. "Emmy?" It was Jamie.

She expanded her shield to include him and sat up in bed. "Hit the light," she said, rubbing at her eyes to prepare herself.

He paused, and then turned the light. He was pale and tired-looking, hands clasped behind his back and shadows under his brown eyes. "I…"

"What's wrong?" Emmaline threw off her covers and approached him quickly. "Are you all right?"

"I'm mad at you, but I still love you," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh, I know," Emmaline said. She pulled him into a hug, though he did not return it. He was growing and was already past her shoulder. She patted his hair. "I love you too."

"Storm talked to me," he said into her shoulder. "She's worried."

"About you?"

"You." His smaller frame shuddered and Emmaline glanced down to see tears rolling down his face. She hugged him closer. "It's dangerous not to sleep. I'm sorry."

"What's going on?" she asked, brow furrowed.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. Something sharp pricked her arm and a tingling sensation spread her body.

"Jamie…?" she breathed before darkness closed in around her.

_**Reviews are highly appreciated!**_


	6. Chapter 6

There was a faint pressure at her temples. She groaned and opened her eyes, fluttering in the bright lights of the room. Once her vision adjusted, she saw she was lying down on a table in the sterile med lab. She could see both Storm and Scott near her, watching her. Confused, she tried to look around, but the pressure on her head stopped her from moving.

She remembered talking to Jamie. He had injected something in her… Suddenly, she realized her shield was down. Panicked, she jolted forward, futilely trying to recreate her shield, but it did not appear and she could not move. She was strapped down to the table.

"Please calm down," said Professor X behind her head. "I am blocking your power temporarily." The pressure at her head shifted slightly and she realized they were hands pressed to her head.

"Let me go!" Her voice was raspy from disuse, but firm and furious.

Dr. Reyes entered her line of vision. "Emmaline," she said calmly, "when Storm told me that you never fully sleep, I was worried. Some mutations affect sleep patterns, but from the report it was a conscious effort on your part. Your mutation gave you control over how you sleep, but that doesn't mean that you should mess with your natural cycle. Don't you feel more rested now?"

In fact, Emmaline did. The sleepiness that normally lingered with her was gone, leaving her focused and awake. However, she was not the slightest bit grateful. "Let. Me. Go."

"While you were asleep I ran some tests. Your metabolism was abnormally high and your blood sugar was too low. Your body has been expending too much energy keeping your up for so many years. To stay healthy, you need at least six hours of sleep—real sleep—every night."

Emmaline rolled her eyes back, trying to see the Professor. "Let me put my shield up," she demanded.

"Hear us out," he replied. "We don't want you running off just yet. And I know you would—I can read your mind, you know."

Emmaline scowled and looked back to the doctor, but she did not speak further. Storm stepped forward instead. "Remember how I told you we have to make sure you stay healthy if you're here? It's simple. You sleep… or you leave. We're going to connect you to an EEG at night to make sure you're really sleeping. We can have one set up in your room by tonight. Understand? Good. It's close to noon, but Dr. Reyes wanted to keep you here for the rest of the day in case the drugs adversely—"

"Wait," the Professor told Storm softly.

Emmaline stared evenly at Storm. "I leave."

"You leave," Storm repeated dully. "What do you mean?"

"No shield or I leave? I leave. I'm 23. I can make my own choices. If you want to require me to take down my shield every night, I'm bailing," Emmaline said. It was heard to sound firm while strapped to a table, but she tried.

"Even if it means leaving Drew and Jamie?" Logan asked her quietly, stepping into her line of vision.

"I'm sure Drew will come with me. Jamie… he's obviously happiest here. My decisions no longer affect him. Let me go." She spoke as levelly as she could despite her anger.

Finally, Storm shrugged. "We're not going to make you stay, but you'll regret leaving."

"No," Emmaline said, "I won't."

"I can see you're very attached to Jamie, no matter what you say," the Professor said. Suddenly, he added, "What happened to your family was not your fault."

"Let go of me! Get out of my goddamn head!" Emmaline yelled, twisting to get free.

The pressure from her temples was gone and she quickly shielded herself. The relief that hit her was like the first breath after holding it for an hour. She pulled the shield down so it was flush with her skin and then pushed out, breaking the straps that held her down. She sat up and started to the door, pushing everything out of her way.

"Wait," Scott said. She didn't stop. "How about a compromise? We need you on our side." She turned back to look at him, arms crossed. He had been silent during the whole conversation. "You'll still have to sleep, but—"

"Not interested," Emmaline said.

She turned to the door but found Logan standing inside the door frame. "At least hear him out," he said. "Don't give up so quickly."

"No." She started forward. "I'll just push you out of the way."

His claws unsheathed without warning and Emmaline tensed for an attack on her shield. Instead, he reached sideways with both hands and slammed his claws into the metal doorframe up to hi knuckles. "You push me and either I slice through the door or you break off my claws. Would you really risk that?"

"You heal," Emmaline snapped, though her steps forward were smaller, hoping he would get out of the way.

"Not my claws," he said. "I'm not the one who knocked you out and blocked your powers. I told them not to…I had the crazy idea this would happen. Neither did Scott, so at least listen to him." He looked past Emmaline at Scott. "This had better be a good idea."

"I can set up your room like my house," he offered. "Remember? An intruder from any entrance and alarms go off. They'd wake you up and you could shield."

Emmaline wanted to reject the offer on principle, but forced herself to consider it fairly. If she kept her bed in the middle of the room she'd have enough time to wake up and shield before anything happened. "That sounds… reasonable. How long would it take to install it? How much would it _cost?_" she asked, thinking of the extremely expensive possibilities.

"Two days, four tops. You won't need to pay anything. This school has enough money to spare. Right Professor?" he asked, turning to the man in the wheelchair.

"Of course. We often invest individual needs. Who knows which one person will make a difference?" he said. "We would like for you to stay."

"Then I start sleeping in two days, four tops," Emmaline said, nodding.

Behind her, Logan retracted his claws and cleared the doorway. "Glad to have you on our side," he said.

"Emmaline can't afford to miss any more sleep. That's up to 96 more hours awake. As a doctor, I can't let that happen," Dr. Reyes interrupted. "If she stays here, she's sleeping tonight."

By the time Emmaline turned to the door, Logan had already stuck his claws back into the doorframe. "I'll guard your room," he said firmly. Emmaline's eyes widened and she looked at him appraisingly. For reasons unknown, she thought she would feel secure with him guarding her door. But did he want her to stay just so he could learn to beat her shield? The set of his jaw was stubborn, as expected, but his eyes were surprisingly tender.

"No you won't," Scott argued. "She needs someone to _guard_ her room, not drink a beer and fall asleep in front of it. I'll do it."

Logan laughed darkly. "No chance in hell. I saw how well you guarded Jean."

Forgoing his mutant ability, Scott raced towards Logan with violent intent, but Emmaline stretched her shield across the room, creating a wall between the two men. Scott skidded to halt. "Me?" he said to Logan. "Where were you? How dare you—"

"Shut up!" Storm snapped. "We all miss Jean. But what happened happened, no matter who's to blame. On the other hand, Emmaline's still here."

The Professor's voice was quiet, but its calm force made it stand out. "Since neither of you trust the other to guard her room well, why don't you guard it together?"

Storm hid a smile. "It's be only a few nights. Besides, you could watch each other for mistakes. Emmaline, what do you say?"

She pursed her lips. "They might be too busy name-calling to watch anything. But this is too much hassle anyway. No one else has guards posted by their room. Your team will survive without me. I've been fine alone on the outside for years."

"With your shield up—and no sleep," Scott argued.

"Yes," Emmaline said evenly.

"You won't have a shield up once you finally collapse from exhaustion," Dr. Reyes pointed out. She spoke quietly, already looking through another file as though she wasn't interested in the conversation, but Emmaline could hear the concern in her voice.

"I can survive guard duty with Logan," Scott said.

"Well, I can handle Scott," Logan said.

"Perfect," the Professor said, rolling towards the door. Emmaline gathered her shield back close to her body and let the man pass by her. "If Emmaline is agreeable? These two can be your shield until Scott installs a mechanical one."

Emmaline thought it over. Having guards who hated each other would be perfect or disastrous. They'd either be too focused on each other and let someone get past or be so focused away from each other they'd work solely on the job. Logically, she knew that it was unlikely she was going to be in danger at the school, but her fear was strong and irrational. For the sake of Jamie and Drew, she would compromise.

"Agreed."

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Emmaline was not as bored resting in the med lab for the rest of the day as she expected. Dr. Reyes told her that she needed to make sure Emmaline did not have any adverse side effects from the anesthesia. The metal table was replaced with a thin cot. Emmaline refused to sleep during the day, so sat on the bed only to appease Dr. Reyes, who hoped she would spontaneously fall asleep.

Dr. Reyes was easily drawn into conversation about the effects of mutations on the body. Previously, Emmaline had just accepted her power as a fact rather than an interesting phenomena but Dr. Reyes explained the miniscule probabilities for a successful genetic mutation. As she talked, the doctor typed on her laptop. When Emmaline finally asked what she was typing, Dr. Reyes informed her that she kept detailed records of all the students' mutations and general health and that she typing up Storm's report on Drew's ability. "Of course, we had to take his word for the effects—we couldn't just drag a human in here and let Drew go to town. Actually, if you could verify his answers…?"

The doctor read Drew's responses. Emmaline was interested to hear that Drew felt like he was floating when he convinced someone. They had never really talked about their respective powers. "It really doesn't work on mutants?" the doctor asked. "I feel we wouldn't be able to tell if it did," Dr. Reyes said.

Emmaline shrugged. "I think I would know if my little brother could make me believe everything he said. I mean, we wouldn't get into any arguments… and we definitely get in arguments. And he didn't purposefully let you all catch us."

Dr. Reyes nodded and typed on her computer. "Thank you," she said.

The door opened and Scott walked in. "Dinner for the prisoner," he joked, carrying in a tray of food. "Gruel and water."

He set the steaming plate of rice, chicken, and vegetables at the foot of the bed. Emmaline was sitting cross-legged on the top of the covers and they looked to Dr. Reyes for permission to eat in the sterile lab. "Anything but coffee," the woman shrugged. Emmaline included the tray into her shield and ate gratefully.

Scott stayed briefly, talking casually to Emmaline and Dr. Reyes. Finally, he said, "I've got to set up for tonight's training." He stood up. "Emmaline will be able to join us tomorrow, right?"

The doctor nodded. "As long as she sleeps at least eight hour tonight."

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Sleeping was difficult. Emmaline lay face-up on her bed, staring at the dark ceiling. Outside of her room, Scott and Logan sat in chairs on either side of her door, as imposing and stonily silent as statues. The EEG was dimmed for the night, but the faint glow was distracting.

Her shield was still up, hovering close around her bed. She planned to let it fall during deep sleep, but the anticipation kept her jittery. Every time her eyelids began to drift closed the idea of really sleeping scared her back awake, though she regretted it immediately. Dr. Reyes had been adamant that if she couldn't sleep, she would be medicinally knocked out for her own safety.

Emmaline rolled to her side and closed her eyes, deciding to force herself to sleep. Though she was not sure why, she trusted Scott and Logan to keep her safe. She had argued with both on their first meetings, but not felt attached to them. After years of supporting Drew and Jamie, it was comforting to trust someone else. If anything happened, they would look out for her. With a deep exhale, she let herself drift…

She awoke with a start, breathing heavily and sitting up, on the verge of running. The fire had been closing in, the smoke beginning to affect the flavor of the air. Her room was darker than it had been earlier, and all was calm. There was no fire there. Her shield appeared around her, making Emmaline calmer. She let her head fall back to the pillow.

When her pounding heartbeat slowed and faded from her ears, she could hear Scott and Logan talking in low voices outside her door.

"…telling myself it's how she'd have wanted to die," Scott was saying. "I just wish it'd been in fifty years."

There was silence for a while. "She chose this career—we all did," Logan finally said. "She was just too selfless," he added with a humorless laugh. "I used to think that was a good quality." There was a thud that sounded like Logan had slammed his head against the wall. Guilty she had listened to their personal conversation, Emmaline made herself close her eyes and stop listening.

"It was," Scott said firmly. They were thoughtfully quiet for a few seconds. Emmaline began drifting off. "What about Emmaline?" Scott asked.

"What about her?" Logan asked, voice even softer. Opening her eyes again, Emmaline rolled over to face the door. She wouldn't listen to them talking about a dead comrade, but she was fair game.

"You don't see the similarities?" Scott said incredulously. Logan was silent. "Selfless, for one. Defends others without regard for her own safety. You told me how she helped Rogue." They had talked about her before?

"Jean was never as…opinionated," Logan said. "They've got more differences than similarities."

"You would think so," Scott said vaguely. "You can overlook good qualities like no one I've ever met."

"At least I don't project Jean's qualities on every pretty girl I meet," Logan snapped.

Silence stretched for such a long time that Emmaline considered getting up and checking if she still had guards. She was upset that they continued arguing about the dead woman, but a smile tugged at her lips when she realized Logan had just called her pretty.

"You're right," Scott finally said.

"I miss her too," Logan said gruffly.

"I see her everywhere," Scott continued, not verbally acknowledging Logan's admission. "Everything's another reminder… I'm going to regret talking to you, aren't I," he finished resignedly.

"Well, we're not allowed to fall asleep and it's three am. At least talking is interesting," Logan replied, diffusing the tension even Emmaline could feel.

"And by that you mean your iPod ran out of batteries and you're too stubborn to leave me to guard the door on my own while you go get the charger?" Scott said.

Three am… Emmaline thought. She'd only slept four of the assigned eight hours. If she wanted to do anything but sit in the med lab tomorrow, she need to go back to sleep. The conversation outside was lighter now, namely Logan taunting Scott about his iPod songs, so Emmaline managed to fall back asleep.

_Review… please?_


	7. Chapter 7

Emmaline woke, startled, to a few brisk knocks on her door. "Emmaline? Breakfast time," Logan said.

Realizing she was without a shield, Emmaline quickly summoned it and yelled, "I'm up." She threw her covers off and shuffled to the door in her thick socks. She opened the door to find both men still sitting in their respective chairs where she had left them. "Were you really up all night?" Emmaline asked, feeling relieved they had actually stayed. She was feeling jittery remembering all those hours she had slept so vulnerably.

"Nah, we went to bed right after you. We woke up five minutes ago so we could be here when you woke up," Scott said, a yawn breaking up and disproving his statement. He was pale and drawn and, though his eyes were covered by his sunglasses, she was sure he was on the verge of sleeping right there.

"Liar," Emmaline said good-naturedly. "I'm okay now—go get yourselves some coffee or sleep."

Logan grinned, seemingly unfazed by the lack of sleep except his facial hair was more distinguished, enhancing his rugged appearance. "Coffee sounds great."

Scott yawned again. "Sleep," he said. "I've got a class at one…" He nodded to himself and turned to leave.

"You'd better be up here upgrading her room," Logan called after him. "Unless you want guard duty forever!"

Scott turned around, smiling. "Was that you volunteering your time to help me set it up? Excellent. Meet me up here at three—we can work until dinner." In his tired stumbling away he missed the impolite gesture Logan shot at his back.

Logan rolled his shoulders. "Ready to head to breakfast?" he asked.

Emmaline looked down at herself; her pajama set was a silky tank top and a pair of worn cotton shorts. "Shower, clothes, and _then_ breakfast. I'd recommend you do the same routine." He was dressed in a crumpled wife beater and black sweatpants, an attractively devil-may-care look accented by his grown facial hair.

"Hey," he protested, looking down at himself. "I don't need new clothes. I look good."

Emmaline had to agree, but would never tell him that. "Keep telling yourself that," Emmaline winked, closing the door on his face.

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"Emmy?" The voice was small, but Emmaline turned to it immediately. Jamie stood in the entrance to a doorway, obviously waiting for her. A range of emotions rose in Emmaline, each so strong and different that she couldn't decide how to react. She wanted to turn on her heel, she wanted to hug him and tell him she forgave him, but she stood frozen in place. "Can I talk to you?"

Emmaline looked around, glad Drew had left the dining hall separately. "All right," she said, entering the classroom and closing the door behind her. She forced herself to keep her shield to herself. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" he asked immediately.

"No thanks to you," she said coolly. The only way she could keep from reacting extremely in either direction was to maintain her distance.

Jamie swallowed. "I'm sorry," he whispered. His eyes fell to the floor. "Storm told me you might die if I didn't do it."

"You could have asked me," Emmaline said, keeping her voice level.

"No I couldn't!" Jamie argued. "If I had told you what I was going to do, you wouldn't have let me do it."

"Duh," Emmaline said, the condescension in her voice surprising even her. "Storm exaggerated wildly. I keep my shield up for a reason, as you might remember."

"Storm asked Drew to do it first. He wouldn't—he said he'd warn you and run away if they tried anything. She said it was up to me to save you. I'm mad you couldn't just let me be normal here, but I didn't want you to die." His voice cracked and Emmaline realized he was crying.

Instantly she was by his side, protecting him with her shield and hugging him, despite her decision to remain distant. "It's okay. I'm okay," she murmured.

"I love you," he said brokenly. "You're always there… there for me and then I deserted you and betrayed you and—"

"It's okay," Emmaline said. "Don't worry about it… just don't do it again. You'll just have to trust me. I've always tried to make the right decisions for us." Jamie nodded and pulled back, wiping a sleeve over his red eyes. "I agreed to start sleeping when they want me to," she told him. "I'm healthy, I promise."

Jamie's smile wavered. "Just stay that way," he said. "I can't lose you."

"I wouldn't worry about it. With Storm, Scott, and Logan looking after me, I don't think I'm physically able to be lost," Emmaline said, shrugging.

Jamie narrowed his eyes at Emmaline, trying to suppress his smile. "Do you _like_ him?"

"Like who?" Emmaline asked warily.

"Logan. You said his name like you say Brad Pitt," Jamie said, eyebrows raised.

"We're in this together," she reminded him.

"Drew doesn't think so anymore," Jamie said. "He hates me now."

"I'll talk to him," Emmaline promised. "Meet me in the kitchen before dinner when we're all out of class. I'll bring Drew and we can talk this through."

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Logan was as energized as usual during Emmaline's training session despite staying up all night to guard her room. Once again, he stayed outside her shield while she trained, giving her advice and teaching by example. Thanks to her sleep, her endurance and strength were up as she pummeled the punching bag so she could talk to him easily. "How much coffee did you drink?" she asked, referring to his high energy.

"You'd be surprised—just one cup. I don't need much sleep," he said. "Careful with those kicks. Up and then out," he reminded her. Emmaline adjusted accordingly. "I was working on your room before I came down here."

"How is it going?" Emmaline asked eagerly.

"Scott's a slave-driver, but that means it's going quickly," he shrugged. "He's the one who had to drink a few gallons of coffee. I was convinced that between the yawns and jittery hands he would set off the alarm before he even got the alarm into the door, but he got it."

"Like he said, the sooner it's installed, the sooner you get to sleep," Emmaline said. "Though I still don't see how keeping me here is worth the sacrifice. Especially to Scott—I thought he was going to just fall over snoring this morning."

"Well, he _is_ a pansy," Logan said. "And to the other question… We think you're worth it for the team, and personally. It would be complete hypocrisy to make you leave because we can't accept your mutation." They were silent for little while, and then he asked, "How do you feel? More awake?"

"Much more awake," she said firmly.

"I wonder if your shield's stronger now," he said thoughtfully.

Emmaline suppressed anger at his continued obsession with her mutation and laughed. "Maybe you should make sure I don't sleep anymore then, to give you a fair chance."

"I don't there's such thing as a fair chance with your shield," he said, but his voice was teasing. "I'm starting to think I should give up."

Emmaline couldn't suppress a happy grin at the implied offer. "I don't want to take all the excitement out of your life," she shrugged. "Just don't hurt yourself."

He laughed. "Let's move on to the punches you'll never need in your protective bubble," he said.

By the end of the hour Emmaline was sweaty and panting but even more energized. "If anyone ever actually does get past that shield they're in for a big surprise. I'd like to see you in actual hand-to-hand," Logan said.

"I hope you don't get the chance," Emmaline admitted. "I won't shield you if you decide to start punching me the second you're in," she warned.

He held out his hand placating. "I wouldn't dream of it." There was a mischievous glint in his eye.

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"Is this a joke?" Drew asked, narrowing his eyes at Jamie sitting innocently at the kitchen counter with Emmaline when he walked in.

"I forgave him and I'm the one he drugged," Emmaline reminded him, pulling out the seat next to her for Drew to sit. "Why can't you just say sorry?"

"Me?" Drew asked disbelievingly, not moving from the doorway. "I have nothing to apologize for. Jamie betrayed you. I don't understand how you could forgive him."

"He didn't mean anything bad by it. Storm told him I would die if he didn't do it," Emmaline argued. "You're being unreasonable."

"It's amazing. If I didn't know better I'd think Jamie's the one who can convince people, not me… at least where you're concerned," Drew said, glaring at Jamie. "Did you agree to stay here just so you wouldn't have to leave Jamie? Well, newsflash—he _drugged_ you. He doesn't care about you. These people here could tell him the sky was falling and the only way to save everyone was to kill you and he'd do it! They don't respect you here. If they're willing to invade your privacy to make you sleep, I can only imagine what other excuses they'll come up with. They don't like you having an advantage over them."

"I know that they might do it again—you think I don't? Well, I just think that there are things bigger than me at work here," Emmaline said.

"You mean you stayed so Jamie could have somebody to whine to," Drew said, lip curling in distaste.

"Why do we have to fight about this?" Emmaline asked. "Why do we _always_ have to fight about this?"

Drew turned from Emmaline to Jamie. "You need to learn to make choices and deal with them. We're not going to be your family when you need help and then disappear when you get tired of us."

"You've made mistakes too," Jamie muttered.

"And we didn't throw you out when you came back," Emmaline added.

"That doesn't even compare," Drew said.

"Doesn't it?"

Drew stared at her silently for a minute, and then shook his head. "I thought we were past that," he said. "For Jamie you'll forgive anything, but me you'll hold a grudge against forever." He turned on his heel and stormed out of the kitchen, leaving Emmaline and Jamie standing alone in stunned silence.

"Stay here," Emmaline told Jamie. Though she felt a twinge of regret when she pulled her shield from him, she did not pause in her rush after Drew.

She caught up with him by the stairs, the hallways luckily empty. "Drew," she called. He ignored her, starting up the stairs. "Please stop," she said, following behind him.

"All you have to do is grab me in that shield and refuse to let me leave," Drew snapped.

"I'm not going to do that."

Maybe it was her words or the broken tone of her voice, but he stopped and turned back to her. "What?" he said. "I can't think of what you can say. We obviously were never meant to be like a real family… Or maybe that's problem. We're too much like a real family."

"I try to protect Jamie because he _needs _protecting. You haven't actually needed me once since I met you," Emmaline said quietly. She wasn't speaking to convince him to stay or leave—she just needed him to understand her. "Jamie is always going to be that little kid I decided to protect, even when he's not anymore. And you're always going to be my friend. You don't need my protection, but I want your friendship. You're like my brother and… first mate. I've got to take care of Jamie, but you and me—we've got each other's backs. It is _not_ that I love Jamie more than you." She looked up at him, standing above her on the stairs and watching her with a carefully blank face. "I need you, but Jamie needs me, so if it comes down to it, yes, I'd stay here with him. It's because I stopped doing things just for myself a long time ago."

They were quiet for a short time that seemed to last forever. "Is that true?" Drew asked, folding his arms.

Emmaline sighed. "Yes, of course. I will miss you if you leave, but you can take care of yourself so I'm not going to try to change your decision.

"_Are_ you leaving?" she asked.

Drew looked at her for a moment, and then nodded. "I'll stay as long as you do," he said. He took a few steps down the stairs and knocked on her shield. "Can I come in?"

Beaming, she let him in and grabbed him in a hug. "I'm really glad," she said quietly.

As they walked back to the kitchen, at a more casual pace than they had left it, Drew asked, "Why did they back down on making you sleep?"

"Actually…" Emmaline said, shrugging.

"No way," Drew said, looking over at her. "You caved? Who are you and what did you do with Emmaline?" His voice was only half-joking.

"First I made Scott promise to make my room into the Fortress of Solitude, of course," Emmaline said. "I feel so awake! Sleeping is like drinking a whole gallon of coffee, without the jitteriness."

Drew laughed. "I think it's supposed to be the opposite," he told her. "So Storm was serious that it might have killed you? I assumed she was exaggerating to get us to help her."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure it was an exaggeration. Did I look like I was about to croak?" she asked as they entered the kitchen again. Jamie was still waiting at the kitchen counter, and was watching the door when they came in. Emmaline saw Scott standing by the refrigerator, filling a thermos with coffee. "Hey, Scott," Emmaline greeted.

Scott looked up at Emmaline and Drew. "Hey," he greeted. "Logan and I just finished working on your room for the day. It'll take at least another day, but it's coming along. Logan's not quite the monkey with a wrench as you'd except him to be."

"Did you get much sleep in before you started?" Emmaline asked Scott. She extended her shield to include Jamie at the counter as she spoke, and gestured to Drew to go talk to him.

"About four hours," Scott answered. "Plus another five in coffee."

"Maybe we can convince Dr. Reyes to let me keep my shield up just for one night. Surely I've gotten enough rest to stave off instantaneous death," Emmaline suggested.

Scott twisted the lid onto this coffee thermos, shaking his head. "She was very specific that you sleep from now on," he said. "I'll be fine." He yawned widely directed after speaking. At Emmaline's pointed look, he held up a hand to stop her argument. "You did it for, what, five years? I can handle another night or two."

"I wasn't completely asleep," Emmaline pointed out.

Scott sighed, and she was sure he was rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. "You're sleeping tonight," he said firmly. "I'll see you at tonight's training session."

Emmaline nodded and moved out of the doorway so he could leave. She approached Drew and Jamie. "Well?" she asked them.

"We're good," Drew said.

"Good," Emmaline said, sighing in relief.

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"I've noticed that you only interfere to make fights fair," Scott said as they waited for Storm to set the simulation. "In real life, you'd need to make them more than fair. Make the odds so we'll win. It may hurt some egos to share a fight, but life is more important than ego, right?" Emmaline nodded. Scott patted her shield like he was patting her back. "Let's do it."

Emmaline felt sharper and quicker than ever as she hurried with the group down the city street. Seeing the robots ahead, illuminated by fired, she muttered, "Why is it always fire?"

She took Scott's tactical advice. First she shielded Bobby and Rogue in with one of the robots and they quickly deactivated it. They always fought well together because their relationship made them more in tune with each other's plans.

The only two Emmaline didn't help were Storm and Logan, who were both well-equipped to take on multiple robots at a time. Though Storm backed off for the sake of the practice, Emmaline knew that if she got in trouble she could electrocute any robot nearby. Tempered only by the idea of being the teacher, not the student, Logan ripped through robot after robot.

The fight was over quickly, each mutant fighting at their best. "Good job," Storm said once the simulation had faded. "We finished early. See you all tomorrow."

"That's what I was talking about," Scott said, approaching Emmaline. "Great work."

Emmaline grinned. "It was a good idea."

Logan brushed by, looking short-tempered. "We've got to be by her room at 11," Scott reminded him.

"Oh, I will be," he said. It sounded oddly like a threat.

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Smoke lined the ceiling and the room was lit only by the flickering orange of the creeping flames. She coughed, fighting for air. Her legs were made of concrete and she couldn't escape.

The smell of burning wood and hair clogged her head and made her sick. Screams echoed in her mind as she stumbled forward. She had to escape, but every scream added another ten pounds to her legs. She stumbled and fell.

Soot covered her hands and blinded her. She coughed and rubbed at her eyes in a panic. When her vision cleared, she saw the bodies.

"Emmaline! Emmaline, wake up!" a voice said loudly.

"It's just a dream," another voice said. The screams still were raw in her mind.

She was the one screaming. She sat up, looking around in a panic. Her bedroom was not full of fire and death. Scott and Logan were on each side of her bed, looking down at her with concerned expressions. "Emmaline?" Logan said gruffly, searching her face.

She swallowed shakily. Her face was wet with tears and her throat was sore from screaming. She tried to smother her hysterical sobbing. "Are you okay?" Scott asked softly.

"I—I'm fine," she muttered. She realized her pajamas were sticking to her skin from her sweat.

Scott nodded but Logan narrowed his eyes at her. "Bullshit," Logan said.

"What was your dream about?" Scott asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. Emmaline wondered vaguely how many other students he had similarly comforted. He seemed comfortable in the role of comforter. Logan, on the other, seemed on edge. He looked genuinely worried about her, and expressed it by analyzing her closely.

"I…There was…" Emmaline broke off, shivering.

"It's okay," Scott said, rubbing her back soothingly. "It was just a dream."

"It wasn't just a dream," she said softly. Suddenly, she realized her shield was still down and she brought it up so quickly it knocked Scott' hand hard against the backboard of the bed. Seeing Scott's hurt expression, she paused and then expanded the shield to include her two guards. She took a steadying breath. There was a difference between letting her two brothers close to her and letting in Scott and Logan. Logan especially. He was unpredictable and thrillingly unsafe.

"It wasn't a dream?" Logan repeated, meeting her eyes. He seemed to have no problems seeing her despite the darkness in the room. "Do you see the future?"

Emmaline shook her head. "A memory," she said. "Sort of."

"Have you dreamed it before?" Scott asked.

She sighed. "I haven't dreamed since it happened," she admitted. "I forgot how realistic dreams are." The image of the bodies flashed into her mind again and a tear escaped her eye.

"Dreams can suck," Logan nodded, eyes dark.

"What happened?" Scott asked.

Emmaline looked down at her hands knotted together over the covers. "There was a fire. I woke up and saw the smoke and flames. I… ran. Ran as far and fast as I could. I panicked. I didn't stop to think. By the time it really sunk in, I was across town." She swallowed. "My whole family died in the fire. If I had stayed, I could have shielded them—saved them. I didn't even think about it… just ran."

"How old were you?" Scott asked, voice barely audible.

She still didn't look up. "Seventeen. Old enough I should have kept a level head."

"That's what the Professor was talking about," Logan said suddenly. "You think it was your fault."

"It wasn't," Scott said firmly. "You reacted like anyone would. The middle of the night, fire everywhere… You aren't to blame. I mean, you didn't start the fire."

"No," Emmaline admitted wryly. "_That_ was Jamie."

_I would love some reviews!_


	8. Chapter 8

"What?" Scott exclaimed.

"He didn't do it on purpose," Emmaline explained quickly. "His family had kicked him out and he snuck into our house to get some food. He accidentally… sparked." She shook her head briskly. "Never mind. Obviously this sleep is messing with my inhibitions. I haven't told anyone about Jamie—except Drew. I'm fine now," she said crisply to hide her quavering voice.

Scott nodded and stood obediently. Logan did not. "He burned down your house and killed your family? Why are you with him?" he asked.

"He was alone… and I was suddenly alone too. It seemed right to team up," she said. "I came back and found the house almost down to ashes. Fire trucks had come too late to save anyone. Jamie was by the edge of the crowd, sobbing. No one else would help him." A tear raced down her cheek. "I found out what had happened. He was so distraught. I shielded us both and we stayed like that until a few days ago."

"Emmaline…" Scott said sympathetically.

Logan asked. "What about Drew?"

"Enough story-telling," Emmaline said firmly, moving her shield to exclude her guards. "It's going to take me long enough to fall back asleep as it is."

"Let's go, Logan," Scott said. Logan cast one look back down at Emmaline and stood up. "We'll be right outside," he promised.

"We'll wake you if you have another dream," Logan said, nodding solemnly to her.

Emmaline smiled, relieved. "Don't hesitate," she said.

"Never," he replied.

Once the two mutants left the room, Emmaline rolled onto her side and closed her eyes but every time she neared sleep the images of fire and her family's bodies flashed in her mind and she had to start again. Part of her dreaded risking the dreams again, but another part knew that she was going to have to deal with them if she wanted to stay at the school with Drew and Jamie.

At least an hour passed as Emmaline rolled from side to side, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in though she knew that was not her problem. She was frustrated, feeling weariness weigh heavily on her bones, but she could not fall asleep.

"You're a dick," Logan said from outside her room. His voice was gruff and quiet, muffled only slightly by the door.

"I'm not even doing anything," Scott argued. "What's your problem?"

"You just took a six month hiatus, but you're back one week and suddenly you're over her and on to the next one," Logan said.

"Are you talking about Emmaline?" Scott asked, bewilderment coloring his voice. Inside her room, Emmaline stifled a gasp. Scott… in love with her? She hadn't even considered the possibility. She suddenly wished she really was asleep so she wouldn't have to hear their conversation.

"She's clearly not ready for a relationship now. Hell, she hasn't even talked to man other than her brothers in the last six years. You think you can just sweep in and become her knight in shining armor," Logan said. "I thought Jean was the one for you."

"She was. Logan, I am _not_ romantically interested in Emmaline," Scott said. Emmaline breathed a sigh of relief. She was relieved she wouldn't have to deal with any awkward rejection. She hadn't had to deal with potential suitors since she was in high school six years ago.

"You seem pretty interested in her," Logan said. "You need to back off. She'd just be rebound for you and she deserves more."

"She's a good person and I respect her. We're just friends. Where did that even come from?" Scott asked. Logan was silent. "Are you projecting on me?"

"What does that even mean?" Logan snapped.

"That's how you feel about her, so you assumed I do too. You've already thought every aspect of having a relationship with her out," Scott said. Emmaline waited with baited breath for the answer. Logan was still silent. "You think she's another Jean." Scott laughed. "You were ready to fight with me over the girl—and lose—again."

"Shut up, laser eyes," Logan grumbled. Did that mean he liked her? Confused, Emmaline _really _wished she hadn't heard the conversation.

"I'd warn you about not hurting her, but it sounds like you're playing the role of potential boyfriend and over-protective brother at the same time," Scott said.

"You really are a dick," Logan said.

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"Do you want to sit with us?" Emmaline asked Jamie as they stood in line together to get their lunches. She had not offered before, hoping he would take the initiative himself, but she was getting impatient.

"No thanks," he said, setting an apple on his tray.

Emmaline faltered. "Are you sure? We sit with some older kids, but they'd be totally okay if you sat with us."

"I'm sure," James said. "I have other friends."

Emmaline plastered a smile on her face. "Of course. I should have thought. All right. I'll see you later?"

He nodded and walked away to the table of students his own age. "If he loves you, he'll come back to you," a voice said in her ear. She turned and saw Logan. He smirked. "I read that on a shirt somewhere."

Emmaline rolled his eyes. "He's allowed to have other friends," she said, though unsure who she was trying to convince.

Logan shrugged. "He's a teenager. You're lucky he hasn't started wearing those tight pants and cutting himself," he said.

"Oh God," Emmaline agreed. "He's still got time." She shook her head, trying to get the strange image from her head. "Do you always eat here? Where do you sit?"

"I normally go out to lunch or eat in the teacher's lounge, but I'm busy fixing your room," he said. "I'm taking a quick lunch before I go back up. I'll probably work a little longer before your lesson."

Emmaline shrugged.

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Storm entered the room. "We're doing something different today," she said. "No robots today." She gestured for them to follow her down to the Training Room. Emmaline walked with Scott, talking casually.

"Do you know why we're in the other room today?" Rogue asked Scott, coming up beside them.

Scott paused and then nodded. "I think I'll let Storm tell you," he said, quickly changing the topic. "We finished your room," he told Emmaline.

"That was quick," Emmaline said. "Weren't you running behind yesterday?"

"We were, but we kicked in gear today." He lowered his voice. "I also added a high-tech fire alarm. If there's a fire, a panel will come out of the wall and give you everything you need to be a firefighter here."

Emmaline smiled gratefully. "Thank you," she said as they entered the Training Room.

The large room was different than Emmaline remembered it. The bare walls were still spotted with signs of abuse from various mutations but the previously clear floor was scattered with pots of trees and large rocks, resembling mountain terrain. Once everyone was gathered together around Storm at the front of the room, she crossed her arms and looked over them. Her dark eyes were solemn and she took a deep breath before speaking. "Magneto has been confronting mutants across the country," she said, getting directly to the point. "From what we can tell, he gives them an ultimatum: join him and his mutant resistance, or die. Only one mutant escaped, and he survived only long enough to call and warn us."

The youngest generation of X-Men exchanged worried glances. Emmaline looked around, confused. She did not know who this Magneto was, but the idea that he was killing mutants was frightening.

"We're not completely informed about the situation yet, so we're not going to make any rash decisions. Magneto is dangerous, as you well know. We're only telling you now so you won't be surprised if we need a team to move out in a hurry. If we can get a lock on where Magneto's striking next then we're going to do all we can to get the mutants out of his way," Storm continued.

"I know most of you have met Magneto before, but that doesn't mean you're able to take him on your own," Scott said, looking around the group, "so please don't do anything stupid."

"We're going to be in here at night from now on so we can practice fighting other people with powers." Storm was cut off by the door opening.

Logan walked in, late as usual. He looked at the worried faces around him and nodded. "I'm guessing you told them?"

Storm nodded. "As I was saying, we're going to be fighting each other. This room doesn't have the safety precautions the Danger Room does—you get hurt here, it's real. The goal of these practices is to incapacitate your opponents… _not_ do permanent damage."

"Once we're out of here and in a real fight, do all the damage you want," Logan interjected.

Storm glared at him. "_No_, you don't. We're not the bad guys—we're not going around killing everyone who gets in our way. The government has able facilities to hold any mutant we can catch. Two teams. Scott, Piotr, Bobby, and Rogue and Kitty, Emmaline, Logan, and me. You're trying to capture the other team. Whoever is the last team standing wins. To prevent stalemates, we've got a thirty minute time limit. Of course, there are some rules to avoid actual injuries. You are to surrender once you're in a situation that would lead to injury or death in real life."

"This isn't fair," Rogue interrupted, hands on hips. Her Southern drawl was extremely obvious as she complained. "There is no 'situation leading to injury' for Logan or Emmaline. We can't beat them."

"Well, what will you do if you someone on Magneto's team can heal or shield?" Scott challenged.

"Rogue actually has a good point," Storm admitted. She turned to Logan and Emmaline. "Logan, if they hit you over the head, please stay down like you're actually hurt. Emmaline… you wouldn't be interested in lowering the shield, would you?"

Scott and Logan snorted. Emmaline glared at them, but looked back at Storm with a wry grin. "No way," she said.

"Well, if Emmaline's the last one standing it doesn't count," Storm finally said. "Any more complaints?" She glared at the group, daring them to speak. No one did. "Okay. My team, come with me. We'll start at the other end. When the lights dim, it's the cue to start."

Logan, Emmaline, and Kitty followed Storm across the big room, stepping over the rocks and avoiding the trees carefully. "Do we have a strategy?" Kitty asked quietly.

Logan nodded. "Yeah, kick some ass," he said.

Storm glanced back over her shoulder at him. "That plan doesn't always work."

"It does for me," he replied, slicing calmly through a branch that hung in his way.

"Kitty, you're going to need to do for the element of surprise," Storm instructed. "Get behind something and stay put until one of them walks by and grab them. Logan, you know how to fight. Try to not get them all too quickly. Emmaline…." She trailed off, unsure.

Logan took over. "You'll be the best at capturing them. Trap one or two in a corner and keep them there."

Emmaline nodded. They reached the edge of the room and Storm pressed a button to lower a computer down. Her fingers flew over the surface as she set up the program. The lights dimmed in the Training Room, leaving it shadowed like dusk. A neon red clock was illuminated on the ceiling, starting a countdown from 30:00. It was bright enough in the room to see but dark enough to set them all on edge… except Logan. He grinned and his claws slid from his hands. "Let's go," he said.

The group split up, moving through the room. The trees and rocks, which had seemed obvious and unimposing in the bright lighting, were now intimidating. Emmaline kept her shield close to her skin, listening closely. No one could get at her with her shield, but it didn't stop her hair from standing on end. The room was too quiet. Almost ten minutes had passed and Emmaline was starting to wonder if everyone had just decided to go to sleep.

Suddenly, there was a commotion to Emmaline's right side. She dodged past the trees and other obstacles to get to the action. By the time she got there, she found Kitty sitting on the ground, pouting.

"Kitty?" Emmaline said, leaning down next to her.

She looked over at Emmaline and blushed. "Bobby caught me. Had to surrender."

"Which way did he go?"

Kitty wrinkled her nose. "I don't think I'm still allowed to help once I've been caught," she said. Still, her eyes flicked to the left meaningfully.

Emmaline nodded and walked steadily in that direction. With the obstacles in the room, it seemed even bigger than it had cleared out. Somewhere ahead of her Bobby was hunting for another one of her teammates to take down.

She heard Bobby's soft footsteps before she saw him. He was walking carefully, looking from side to side constantly but she was quiet enough behind him that he didn't notice her. She followed until he was in front of a particularly tall rock and moved her shield out suddenly. She pushed him gently against the rock, careful not to squish him. She knew he would give before the rock or her shield. She walked within her shield until she was next to him "Surrender?" she said.

Bobby grumbled angrily into the granite his face was pressed against. Emmaline took that as acceptance and drew back her shield. "Stay here," she reminded him.

Bobby sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor. "That was sneaky," he told her, smiling good-naturedly.

Emmaline nodded to him, accepting it as a compliment before moving on. She kept her shield very close over her skin as she walked, listening closely for sounds of the other team. The adrenaline from the dark forest and hunt made her heart pound in her ears so loudly she was sure everyone could hear her. She caught sight of movement from her left side. Scott saw her at the same time she saw him. As she started towards him, he ran quickly in the other direction.

She pursued him, though she didn't have a solid plan. However, she was beat to capture him. Logan appeared from behind a tree directly in front of Scott. Logan had his claws at Scott's neck before he could reach his sunglasses. "Surrender," Scott said, sounding like the admission caused him physical pain.

Logan looked over at Emmaline. She wasn't sure how he knew she was there, since she was still far enough away to be obscured in shadow. "Got anyone yet?" he asked. He was nonchalant, as though he was not even in a fight. Though it was not real and she was completely safe in her shield anyway, Emmaline still felt on edge. "I got Rogue and Summers here." He jerked a lazy thumb down at Scott, who was sitting on the ground with a petulant frown.

"Well, I got Storm," Scott muttered.

"Got Bobby," Emmaline told them, grinning.

Logan smiled back, seeing how proud she was. "Good job."

Scott looked over at Emmaline. "How'd you do that?" he asked, getting over his annoyance at being caught to discuss tactics.

"Trapped him between a rock and a hard place. Just like I intend to do Piotr," Emmaline said.

Logan was suddenly beside her. "Not if I get him first," he said.

"Is that a challenge?" Emmaline asked.

Logan gave her a dangerous grin and took off at a sprint to his left. Emmaline ran behind him, trusting his ability to find the last mutant. The Training Room wasn't very wide and they were already within several yards of the steel wall of the room. Emmaline was about to ask Logan how he chose this direction when a solid metal arm appeared from behind a tree and slammed into Logan's throat, making him fall down.

Piotr emerged, morphing back into his normal form. "I win," he said, beaming triumphantly.

Emmaline smiled slowly. "Not if I can make you surrender."

"I've just got to last until time runs out," he countered, pointing at the hovering clock. Emmaline looked up. Less than two minutes remained. When Emmaline looked back down, he was already running in the opposite direction.

She scowled and ran after the mutant. He was quick despite his size, but Emmaline's increased workouts allowed her to stay close on his heels. She narrowly avoided tripping over Storm, who was sitting almost directly in her path. "Sorry," Emmaline called back to her, hurrying forward.

Piotr took a wrong turn and got too close to one of the prop rocks. Emmaline thrust her shield outwards, trapping him next to the stone like she did to Bobby. So quickly Emmaline would have missed the shift if she had blinked, Piotr was covered in silver metal. Emmaline frowned.

He struggled to move, but could not. "This counts as a stalemate," Piotr said. Even as he spoke, the rock he was pushed into began cracking from the pressure of the metal mutant and Emmaline's shield.

"Actually, we win." Logan was suddenly next to Piotr, claws hovering next to his neck.

Piotr sighed and looked between Logan and Emmaline. "I surrender." Overhead, the timer buzzed, indicating the end of the session. The lights turned back on and Emmaline pulled her shield away from Piotr, allowing him to step away from the rock. The Training Room was far less intimidating in the light and Emmaline allowed herself to relax.

They couldn't see her, but Storm's voice was clear. "Meet me by the door!" she called.

Piotr returned to his normal, non-metallic state and he turned at Emmaline. "I honestly didn't expect you to chase me," he said, smiling sheepishly. "That was a really clever move."

"I guess I should have taken your power into consideration though," Emmaline said as the three mutants began to walk towards the front of the room.

"So we'll count that as my win," Logan said to Emmaline.

"Weren't you supposed to stay down?" Piotr asked Logan, frowning.

"Only if it was something that would hurt a normal person," Logan said. "Your metal arm isn't as tough as you think it is."

"Or you couldn't stand losing to me," Emmaline said. "I think that was a tie, since you couldn't have gotten him if I hadn't already had him trapped."

"Yes I could have," Logan argued as they approached the rest of the group.

"No you couldn't have," Piotr argued. Emmaline grinned at him.

Storm looked around the group, making sure everyone was present. "Great job everyone," Storm said. "Not much teamwork, but sometimes it's better not to go at the enemy in big groups. I think it was a successful exercise."

"Because your team won," Scott said in a stage-whisper and they all laughed.

Storm rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I'm proud of you all. It will be different in the real world because you probably won't know what powers your opponents will have, but I have full confidence in you all. Hopefully the situation with Magneto will defuse without our interference."

Logan snorted. "Yeah, that's how it normally happens," he said sarcastically.

Storm shot a glare at Logan and then said, "Class dismissed early. You've earned it."

Emmaline fell into step beside Logan. Now that they were out of training, she couldn't stop her thoughts from going over the conversation she had overheard the night before. She glanced at him sideways. His muscles gleamed with sweat in the bright lights of the Training Room. His wife beater and sweatpants did nothing to hide his sculpted body. She looked up and realized he had been watching her stare at him. She looked away quickly. "So, who is Magneto?" she asked.

"The leader of the Brotherhood," he replied, frowning. Seeing her blank look, he grinned. "You were serious when you said you never watched the news."

"We were a family with no parents. Did you expect us to sit around every night and watch CNN?" Emmaline retorted. "So what's the Brotherhood?" Emmaline asked.

"Their goal is mutant supremacy and they don't care who they have to hurt to get it," Logan said. "Magneto has control over metal." His claws shot out from his hands and he held them up for Emmaline to inspect. "We obviously don't get on well."

"How big are they?" Emmaline asked.

"Bigger than us. It's easier to get people to fight in anger than against it," Storm said, coming up beside them. "I hear you two fight well together," she added.

"We didn't really plan on doing it," Emmaline said.

"Well, Scott's under the impression you herded him towards Logan, and that seems like a smart strategy. We might need to practice tactics more than fighting with you," she said. "Anyways, no more talk of Magneto. Go get some rest. I hear your room's set up?" Emmaline nodded. "See you both tomorrow," Storm said before leaving.

Emmaline realized that she and Logan were the last two people in the room. "Well, I guess I'd better go get out of uniform," she said.

Logan nodded. He was staring at her intensely. "Are you going to be okay tonight?" he asked, voice gruff to cover his obvious concern. "You don't have to lose your guard dogs just because you got a security system."

Emmaline smiled gratefully. "I'll survive," she assured him.

_Will she? Please review!_


	9. Chapter 9

"Hello, Emmaline," the Professor greeted, sitting behind his desk. "Please sit down."

She did so cautiously, her last encounter with the Professor fresh in her mind. She knew her shield protected from mental invasion, but she was still on her guard around him. "We didn't even hurt anyone this time," she said, perching on the edge of the chair.

"I'm aware of your troubles with some of the other students, but that is not why I called you here," the Professor said, smiling. "I trust you were informed of the situation with Magneto?"

Emmaline nodded. "He's been recruiting mutants to the Brotherhood," she said.

"It's not quite so simple. He leaves them no choice—either they join with him or they die. Previously, his recruits were as dedicated to his cause, but he has crossed the line in forcing mutants to take sides. Using Cerebro, we can predict where he's headed, and we are seriously considering sending the X-Team out to give mutants a third option."

"That sounds fair," Emmaline said, deciding it was not the time to ask what 'Cerebro' was. "I'm sorry, but why did you need to talk to _me_?"

"Normally we don't invite people to join the team until they have been in the school several years and had extensive training but your mutation may be the perfect answer to this situation. If you refuse you will, of course, be allowed to stay at the mansion, but we need your help. Will you join the X-Men?"

Emmaline faltered. "Really?" she asked.

"Yes, really," the Professor said, smiling. "Storm and Scott both agree that you have shown talent in the Danger Room. Also, your brother James informed me of some of your escapades while you were living on your own. You have demonstrated a consistent level-headedness in your actions. If you were to join us, you would not be forced to participate in any missions you did not want to, and you would be free to leave at any time."

After a moment of thinking, Emmaline could find no reason to refuse. "I would be honored to join," she said finally. "But what did you mean that my shield would be perfect for this situation?"

"The main issue is that the mutants Magneto confronts have no way to avoid him. You could create instant, impenetrable protection no matter the situation. You could keep them safe until they reach the mansion," the Professor explained. "Of course, we do not want to throw you into a situation you could not handle. If this continues to escalate, we will put together a small team to act preventability against Magneto. I just wanted to bring the topic up with you before things get desperate."

Emmaline nodded, understanding. "I could do that," she said, thinking over the mission.

"Then that is all, Emmaline," the Professor said. Emmaline stood up and thanked him. However, before she left, he added, "Oh, and it would be prudent not to mention your recruitment. As safe as this school is, the more elements of surprise we maintain, the better."

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Emmaline entered the med lab the next day uncertainly. It was as obsessively sterile as always, machines blinking and clicking around the room though the doctor was nowhere in sight. "Dr. Reyes?" she called. The doctor emerged from a back room. She frowned when she saw Emmaline and approached her. "Storm said you wanted to talk to me?"

Dr. Reyes crossed her arms. "Please sit down, Emmaline," she instructed. Emmaline did so uneasily. "Do you know why you're here?"

Emmaline sighed. "Yeah." She averted her gaze from Dr. Reyes when she saw the worry underlying in her reprimanding expression.

"That you couldn't sleep well in your room without Scott or Logan outside could be expected the first night. I understand it is hard for you to let your shield, especially when you're vulnerable, like when you're asleep. I thought I should give you time to adjust, but you haven't slept in three days," Dr. Reyes said.

Emmaline nodded. She hadn't realized how much she had relied on having Logan and Scott watching over her at night. When she was in bed, all the sounds of the house around her amplified. Every creak could be a footstep of a murderer. Every time something shifted in the walls, she was convinced it was a bare copper wire preparing to set the mansion on fire. Her fear of dreaming didn't help either. "I'm trying," she said.

"I know," the woman said. She sat down in the chair in front of Emmaline, who adjusted her shield closer to herself so it wouldn't brush against the doctor. "I'm not sure what else we can do for you other than give you sleeping medication."

Emmaline narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "If I'm knocked out how I am supposed to wake up if my room alarms go off?" she asked. Dr. Reyes's silence was enough answer for her. Emmaline sighed and shook her head. "What did the Professor say?"

Dr. Reyes met Emmaline's eyes calmly. "I have not told him yet. There is doctor and patient confidentiality even at a school… But if this continues, I'll have to tell him. This is extremely detrimental to your health. Can't you tell the difference now from when you were sleeping?" The doctor was almost pleading. She looked over Emmaline with worried eyes that made her uncomfortable.

Emmaline could. She had been so awake and alert after sleeping those two days, but now she was as worn down as she had been before coming to the mansion, and it was even worse now because she knew how she _could _feel. She was processing everything slower than usual and felt she was looking at the world through a dreamlike haze. "A bit," she said.

Dr. Reyes appraised her, leaning back in her chair. "We could always ask Logan and Scott to volunteer to guard your door again until we come up with a better solution," she said delicately.

"No," Emmaline said with such force Dr. Reyes raised her eyebrows. "It's just, I don't want to bother them again," she explained. "It's not fair to them to have to baby-sit me."

"I'm sure they would be more than willing to help you. They seem… protective of you," the woman said. Emmaline shook her head again. "Emmaline, your choices are running out." Exasperation crept into her voice.

"The Professor told me he needed my help to stop Magneto," she said, frustrated. "But he will really make me leave over this, won't he," Emmaline said, sighing.

Dr. Reyes nodded solemnly. "The Professor does not make threats lightly. He wants you to sleep and stay here, but he will keep his word about making you leave."

"I'm fine, really. I'm a mutant. I think you're over-exaggerating how bad my not sleeping is," Emmaline said.

Emmaline could tell immediately from the look of offense on Dr. Reyes's face that she had taken it too far to question her medical expertise. "You need to sleep. Either you sleep at least six hours tonight or I tell the Professor that you're endangering your own health. You can either try to sleep alone again or swallow that pride and ask Logan or Scott to watch over you."

Emmaline did not answer, thinking over the complicated situation. Dr. Reyes set an orange medicine bottle on the floor next to Emmaline's shield. "If you're not asleep by 2 a.m., I'd advise you to take these. They'll knock you out quickly. You may be more drowsy than usual in the morning, but at least your body will be rested." The doctor stood up. "That's all. You probably should hurry to get to lunch."

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Emmaline set the bottle of sleeping pills on her bedside table like it was poison before changing for her afternoon training session with Logan. When she thought of the pills, she imagined herself sound asleep as her room went up in flames around her. She imagined the mutants grouping outside. Scott reassuring Logan that she would have woken up with the alarms. None of them realizing until it was too late… Emmaline shook her head sharply, pulling on her exercise tank top.

Logan was late to practice, as usual. Emmaline stretched as she waited, watching the door so he couldn't sneak up on her like he did so easily. His feral mutation gave him the ability to walk almost silently despite his size. At 2:15 he strolled in, wearing his normal wife beater and dark sweatpants. "You stretched?" he asked, getting immediately down to business.

Emmaline nodded and stood up. She walked immediately over to the punching bag and looked expectantly over at Logan, who hasn't moved to join her. She raised her eyebrows in question. "Actually, I thought we should try to hand-to-hand today," he said calmly, walking into the center of the room where mats were set up.

Emmaline froze, breath caught in her throat. She was glad Logan has his back to her, because she knew he'd see the panic in her eyes. Letting Logan in her shield to fight her was setting herself up to be vulnerable. It went against all of her logic to let someone in her shield with the full intention of letting them attack her.

She quickly made her face neutral when Logan turned around at the center of the room to face her. He sighed. "Emmaline, I can hear your heartbeat."

"You can?" Her voice cracked in embarrassment, making her blush even more.

He nodded. "I've got sensitive hearing, so when it's about to jump out of your chest like that I can. Listen, I'm here to teach you how to defend yourself."

"I was doing fine with the punching bag," Emmaline said.

Logan shook his head. "If I didn't care about you getting hurt fighting, I'd let you stick to punching inanimate objects. But if you got in a real fight, you wouldn't stand a chance and it would be my fault. I wouldn't throw you into this so soon, but the talk about Magneto is getting more serious. So come over here." Emmaline realized that he did not yet know she was an official member of the X-Men. She wondered if he would approve. Seeing Emmaline's continued reluctance to move, he growled under his breath in frustration and then said, "I'm not going to kill you, or even hurt you. Trust me."

Emmaline nodded and walked slowly to the middle of the room. With equal hesitation, she pushed the shield out to include Logan. Emmaline wasn't sure if Logan understood what a monumental act of trust she was committing. If he did, he did not react. He stayed very calm and still as she approached him. She stood stiffly at the edge of the shield, watching him closely. "Thank you," Logan said, seeing the difficulty she had. He approached her slowly, letting her predict his every move. "I'm not just going to attack you," he told her, a smile stealing over his face.

Emmaline nodded stiffly, letting out a long, stabilizing breath. "Okay," she said, forcing out the two syllables.

"Try to hit me," Logan said. "Just to warn you now, I am going to block your punch."

Using a burst of her super-speed, Emmaline shot forward, snapping her fist out towards Logan's jaw in a swift right hook. Logan's hand shot up with surprising speed to swat her fist out of the way as he ducked his head away from her shot. "Keep going," he encouraged.

Using the hand he had just pushed aside, Emmaline aimed a punch at his stomach, but found herself easily blocked again. Emmaline let her right hand drop and tried to catch him off guard with a roundhouse kick, moving more smoothly than before. Logan swept his hand down and deflected her kick. While he was focusing on her leg, she swung at him with a left punch, but he just spun away, leaving her to stumble. "I'm going to show you how to block punches. In our line of business, we're usually on the defensive anyways. Best defense is a good offense, but your powers are more defensive anyways."

Emmaline nodded. Logan demonstrated each move by having her punch or kick at him, and then they would practice it in slow motion until Emmaline could deflect one of his punches in real time. When she was too slow, he would still pull his punches at the last moment.

Twice she was startled by his actions and instinctively snapped her shield around her body, but Logan had not laughed at her panicked reactions, which reduced her embarrassment. Each time she expanded the shield to include Logan again immediately. At the end of the hour, she wasn't even bruised, though she was out of breath.

Logan was also panting slightly from the workout. With their close proximity Emmaline was even more aware of their size difference. Logan was taller than her and solid muscle, and she felt weak near him, especially after the training session. Unlike some men, the scruffier Logan looked the better he looked to Emmaline. She could almost feel the power emanating from him and found she had to force herself not to look at his body. Several times she had caught him looking over her body approvingly, and she had to focus not to let a blush betray her thoughts.

"Good job," Logan said. "We need to work on your reaction time a bit, though I'm sure it'd be better in the field from sheer adrenaline. Hopefully you won't ever have to use this training."

"I hope so too," Emmaline said. Thoughts of having her shield down reminded her of Dr. Reyes's ultimatum. Her trust in Logan was increasing with every day she was with him, and if there was anyone she would want guarding her it was him. "Um, Logan?" she began.

"Yeah?"

Looking into his eyes, Emmaline couldn't bring herself to admit that she couldn't sleep without him nearby. Quickly, she said instead, "Maybe next time I'll be able to land a punch on you."

He laughed, smiling crookedly. "Keep dreaming, babe."

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Emmaline closed her eyes tightly, trying to force herself into sleep. Her mind, however, continued to race. If she fell asleep, who knew what danger she would be in? Her shield was her only stability. But if she left? She was almost positive Drew would come with her no matter how much the teachers tried to make him stay. Jamie would be happy at the mansion without her. She had abandoned her real family because she slept without a shield. Being vulnerable put everyone around her at risk too. Now she was going to abandon Jamie, her family for the last several years, because she would not sleep. The irony made her laugh bitterly into her pillow.

Slowly, she drifted off into a light sleep. It was not the sleep Dr. Reyes had encouraged, but the semi-conscious doze she had fallen back in the last few years. She could still feel the security of her shield around her, but her mind was at rest. She groaned, eyes fluttering open. Napping wouldn't stop the Professor from kicking her out of the school.

She made a list in her head, reminding herself how safe she was in her room. With the new security measures, no one could get in without her knowledge. Scott had stocked the room with supplies for all types of emergencies and had set an different alarm for each situation. He guaranteed her she would wake up in time to react.

So why could she still not relax enough to fall asleep?

She rolled over and looked at the clock. It was one in the morning. The glowing numbers taunted her, reminding her that if she wasn't asleep in the next hour there was no way she could get the required six hours of sleep. Finally, Emmaline asked herself the question, the base question of her dilemma. Did she want to stay at the mansion?

A quick list of pros and cons gave her the answer she knew it would—yes, she did want to stay. She cast a glance at the bottle of sleeping pills sitting menacingly beside her bed. She had to give up control and knock herself out with the medication.

Horrified by the idea still, Emmaline suddenly threw the covers off her bed, pulled the EEG wires from her head, and left her room. Her cushy socks protected her from the cold floor as she walked through the empty halls of the mansion. Storm had pointed out which teacher was in each room when she had originally given Emmaline a tour of the mansion, but in the dark she was unsure.

She came to the end of her hallway and paused. Left and farther up the stairs was Scott. He was sturdy and reliable, and would surely guard her door if she asked. However, without needing to think it through, her feet took her to the right. Her breathing picked up as she neared Logan's room. He would probably laugh at her for being such a coward. But maybe he wouldn't…

Emmaline knocked softly on the door she hoped was his. There was no response. She knocked slightly louder, hoping she didn't wake those in the rooms next to him. Taking a deep breath, Emmaline opened his door and quietly stepped into his room. Though he had been at the mansion much longer than she had, his room was still extremely bare. His clothes scattered the floor, as messy as she expected, but he had no photos or memorabilia around his room.

It was dark, but she could distinguish him in the bed. His distinctive hair was stark against the white of the pillows and he was clearly asleep. "Logan?" Emmaline whispered. She coughed, hearing how raspy her voice was. "Um, Logan?" She wondered why she had even come to his room. He grumbled softly and moved slightly before not moving again. Emmaline approached the side of his bed and spoke a little louder. "Logan? Logan?"

He growled under his breath and his eyes opened in slits. "What?" he growled, sounding angry.

Emmaline almost left then, but she held her ground, reminding herself why she was there. "It's Emmaline."

"Em-line?" he asked, sleep blurring his voice.

Emmaline nodded. "Yeah." She trailed off, unsure how to continue. She wasn't convinced he was even awake, much less open to helping her.

Logan took a second the process that, and then he sat up. The sheets fell down to reveal his bare chest, which made Emmaline blush despite it being so dark in the room she could hardly see him. "What's wrong?" he asked sharply, shaking his head to clear his head.

"I…I haven't slept since you guys stopped guarding my door and Dr. Reyes says that if I don't tonight then she'll tell the Professor who will kick me out so I need you to please guard my door tonight so I can stay here even though I feel like an idiot for asking and this is embarrassing…" Emmaline blurted and then trailed off, blushing dark red. It was bad enough when he had volunteered to watch over her. To have to ask him was humiliating.

Logan held up a hand. "Whoa, that was too fast for me to process at… one in the morning? One more time."

Emmaline took a deep breath and said more succinctly, "Can you watch over my room again tonight? I haven't slept without you or Scott and if I don't tonight then the Professor will make me leave."

"Wait, you haven't been sleeping?" Logan asked, finally understanding what she was saying.

"No," she admitted.

"Scott Summers is an idiot," Logan said, scowling. "Did he even check up on you to see if his fancy machines were helping you?"

"I'm sure they work perfectly, I just…" Emmaline felt stupid trying to explain her irrational feelings. "Please?"

Logan nodded and rolled out of bed. "I'm going to get dressed and grab a chair. You go back your room and try to sleep. I'll let you know once I'm set up outside."

Emmaline smiled, excessively relieved. "Thank you so much," she said. "I'm so sorry. Really sorry. It won't happen again."

He waved her off and said, "Go on. I'll be right there."

Emmaline nodded and walked back to her room with a spring in her step.

_Please review!!!_


	10. Chapter 10

"We received another report of a group of mutant deaths in New Jersey," the Professor said solemnly, sitting at the head of the table.

Emmaline recognized most of the people around the table. This was the X-Team, or as many of them that could respond to the Professor's call. Her training group sat around her, as unfamiliar with the setting as Emmaline was. Despite their continuous references to their involvement with the X-Men, Emmaline got the idea that this was the first time they had been treated as full members. All of the mansion's teachers were there except Logan. Emmaline felt guilty for his absence because she knew he had gone to get some sleep after staying up for most of the night before to guard her door. Storm had sent Logan a message, but he had not responded. There were two mutants at the table she did not recognize. The most notable unfamiliar mutant was a man in an expensive suit covered with blue fur. In the center of the table was a phone set to conference call, and Emmaline heard at least ten mutants join the conversation.

There was an uneasy silence at the table after the Professor's words. Then the blue man spoke up. "What is the total so far?"

"This makes fifteen deaths. We have no way of knowing how many Magneto has succeeded in recruiting, but I expect it to be far over the amount of causalities," the Professor responded. "I have detected a pattern of their movements and have decided to send a team out to offer protection to rogue mutants."

Storm added, "We will also be contacting the media. If mutants are informed to look out for the Brotherhood, maybe more will have the chance to escape."

The blue man nodded. "I will speak to the government about creating refuge areas in the major cities," he said.

"I wanted to inform you all so you would know to be on your guard in your own communities," the Professor said.

The door opened and Logan strolled in looking impressively refreshed. He waved at the group vaguely. "Oh, don't let me interrupt you." He pulled up a chair and sat at the table. He did not scan the present members, and did not notice or acknowledge Emmaline. "Go ahead."

"Thank you for joining us, Logan," the Professor said, a mixed expression of amusement and annoyance on his face.

"No problem," Logan returned.

"As I was saying, I do not expect most of you to participate in the active group," the Professor continued. "You can help in your own cities by warning local mutants to stay in groups, because there is strength in numbers."

A female voice on the phone asked, "How many of the Brotherhood have been involved in each of the confrontations?"

The Professor shook his head. "We do not know. Magneto has been keeping his force well hidden from Cerebro. From their effectiveness, I assume there are at least five of them. Any other questions?" No one responded, and he continued, "Thank you for your attendance. Would those who would like to volunteer for the team please remain? The rest of you are free to leave."

Two of the teachers that Emmaline only vaguely recognized stood up, along with the blue-furred man. "I'll speak to the President today, Charles," the blue-man said.

"Thank you , Hank," the Professor replied. As they left, he looked back over the mutants left. Everyone from Emmaline's training group remained, along with Logan (who looked like he only stayed there was because he was comfortable leaned back in his chair), Storm, Scott, and two teachers Emmaline had not met.

"As much as I appreciate your enthusiasm, sending out a team of ten mutants might be too conspicuous. We're looking to peacefully offer sanctuary to rogue mutants, not fight with the Brotherhood. Emma, James—we need your guidance here at the school." The man looked like she was ready to protest, but the Professor continued, "The field team will be bringing people here for safety, so we need to keep a strong force here as well." The mentioned teachers conceded and left the room.

The Professor looked over the remaining eight mutants. "We still need fewer members. Any more volunteers to back down?" He looked over the group. "Thought not. Scott? As tactics professor and team leader, you pick the three other members of your team."

Scott stood up and faced the group. He kept his voice level and professional, ignoring the pleading looks shot at him by members of their class. "Storm, because she's always been a good diplomat. Bobby, because he's level-headed and a good fighter. And last is Emmaline, of course."

"What?" Logan said, sitting up quickly. He looked around the table and met Emmaline's eyes.

Scott sighed and said patiently, "Logan, you can't come on every mission."

Without taking his eyes off Emmaline, Logan growled, "I'm coming."

"We already agreed on a team of four," Storm said.

Bobby coughed and they all looked at him. "If Rogue's not going, then Logan can have my spot." Logan grinned triumphantly. Rogue beamed and leaned against Bobby's shoulder, hair carefully blocking her from Bobby's exposed skin.

"But…" Scott began.

"Logan's a better fighter than me anyways," Bobby said, shrugging.

"It's settled then," the Professor said, wheeling away from the table.

As they stood up to leave, Emmaline caught Logan's eye again. He looked furious, even though he had gotten what he wanted. He motioned for her to stay behind. She lingered as her classmates got up around her. "Wow, Emmaline, I can't believe you got picked!" Kitty said, grinning at Emmaline.

Emmaline, who had expected bitterness from the more experienced student, smiled back. "It's just because of my power," she said.

"Scott wouldn't have picked you if he didn't think you could totally handle this," Kitty replied. Piotr came up beside her quietly and she looked over at him. "See you later, Emmaline," she said, leaving with the other mutant.

Emmaline went around the table to talk to Logan. Scott walked past him as she approached. "Why do you even want to come?" he asked Logan, frowning.

"I'd hate to miss out on the action," Logan said.

Scott sighed and Emmaline imagined that if she could see behind his reflective sunglasses he would be rolling his eyes. "You can't always have your way," he told Logan before leaving them.

Emmaline and Logan were the last people in the room. The moment Scott was out of earshot, Logan whirled on her. "What are you even thinking?"

Emmaline faltered at the anger in his eyes and voice. "About what?" she asked.

"When did you even join the team?" he asked her, voice growing in volume.

Emmaline averted her eyes. "Yesterday…" she said.

"This is ridiculous. You've only been here a few weeks!" Logan began pacing. "Damn Professor," he grumbled. "Why didn't they ask me?"

"Storm and Scott both vouched for me," Emmaline said, unsure if she should take a defiant position in the face of Logan's obvious anger.

"What are they thinking, putting you in danger? It's not like you'll be helpful," Logan growled.

"Actually, the Professor said my power will be really helpful," Emmaline argued. "I can shield the mutants who want safety from Magneto."

Logan ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "So you're just going to let strange mutants into your shield? I know you. There's no way you'll be comfortable doing that."

Emmaline hadn't thought of it like that. "I don't think they'll be—"

"This could all be a trap, for all we know. What will you do when someone inside the shield is working for Magneto? If he gets close enough to you, you'll keep him in instead of leaving the rest of them outside, I know you will."

Logan's (accurate) assumption of her actions bothered her. "Then I guess it's a good thing you'll be coming too. I'll let you in too and you can 'protect' me," she said sarcastically.

"Damn right I'm coming too," Logan snapped. "Now I've got to make sure you don't get yourself killed."

Emmaline was about to argue when his words processed in her mind. He was going on the mission just to protect her. And as much as she wanted to tell him she could take care of herself, she was undeniably relieved. "I… Thank you," she said finally.

Logan looked thrown off, obviously prepared to continue arguing. "Yeah, well, you can thank me by not doing anything stupid," he said gruffly before stalking out of the room. "Now I've got to go kill Summers for being such an idiot."

"See you at noon!" Emmaline called after him.

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Drew raised an eyebrow when Emmaline entered the kitchen. "Nice outfit."

Emmaline frowned, looking down at the leather uniform. "Yeah, well… The Professor asked me to go on a mission so… I'm leaving." She set her black duffel bag on the ground and waited for their reaction.

"You're leaving?" Drew repeated, keeping his voice level.

"I'll be back," she promised. "They just asked for my help with this."

"Is it dangerous?" Jamie asked.

Emmaline laughed. "I'm going with Storm, Scott, and Logan—I think I'll be safe."

Jamie nodded, relieved. "You sure they don't need us to come too?"

"They said it had to be a small mission group," Emmaline told him, though she knew that if they had even suggested dragging her brothers into such danger she would take them and leave the school immediately. "You'll be able to join the team eventually," she said.

Drew was not as convinced of Emmaline's safety as Jamie was. "Why do they need you?"

"So I can shield people from Magneto," Emmaline said. "I can help people."

"When do you leave"

Emmaline looked up at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Ten minutes. Actually, I'd better go now." She picked up her duffle bag.

Drew gave her a brief hug. "Be safe," he said firmly.

She turned to Jamie, who launched himself into her arms. "I'll be back," she promised again, hugging him tightly.

"Sorry about…" Jamie trailed off.

Emmaline wasn't sure which incident he was apologizing for, but it didn't matter. "Forget it," Emmaline said. "You're long since forgiven."

She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and smiled at her brothers, willing herself not to cry. "I love you," she told them before pulling the shield in to circle only herself and leaving the kitchen.

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When Emmaline boarded the jet, the other three mutants were already on board—even Logan was on time. Scott was in the cockpit, messing with the controls. There were three rows of pairs of seats. Storm was in the first row and Logan was in the second. With on a second of hesitation, she sat down next to Logan.

"Sorry I'm late," she said to the group at large.

"It's fine," Storm answered. "Scott's still getting the coordinates set from the Professor's readings."

"Got it," Scott said. "Prepare for take-off."

Emmaline latched herself into her seat, double-checking to make sure everything was perfect. Despite her thus far invincible shield, the idea of flying made her uncomfortable. "Logan, buckle up unless you want to bounce around the cabin," she urged. He was sitting back in his chair, arms crossed tensely.

"I heal," he reminded her, but he still buckled the harness. "I hate flying," he grumbled. Emmaline nodded her agreement. The engine fired up and the jet lifted smoothly off the ground. Above them, the ceiling opened to reveal the clear blue sky. Scott handled the jet with the ease of practice, though Emmaline knew he hadn't flown since before he took his break from the team after Jean's death.

Seeing that Logan was gripping his arm rest hard enough to dent the metal, Emmaline tried to distract him. "I see Scott's still alive," she teased as they cleared the surface of the ground and zoomed over the school.

Logan scowled. "The Professor told me he'd take me off the mission if I killed him," he said.

Emmaline laughed. "Just off the mission? Not jail or anything? That was probably the best deal you could have gotten and you passed it up," she joked.

Logan was slowly relaxing, though his hands were still firmly holding the arm rests. "If he wasn't the only thing between us and a long fall to the ground, I might just have to take the deal."

Emmaline laughed, and then changed the subject once again away from their apparently imminent plane crash. "So, what is this Cerebro thing everyone keeps talking about?" she asked.

"It's the Professor's machine for focusing his power," Logan said. "Magneto helped him build it."

"Wait, what?" Emmaline asked.

Logan explained the complex history between Magneto and the Professor as they flew. At first his sentences were clipped, but by the end he seemed marginally comfortable on the plane. Storm interjected into the conversation when Logan left something out, but stayed mainly focused on a thick paperback novel.

The flight was thankfully short. Within thirty minutes, Scott was landing the jet in Newark, New Jersey's biggest city. "The Professor gave us the addresses of the mutants who didn't follow the suggestion to group together. Tonight we'll go to their building to check its security, but first we'll contact the rogues and inform them of the situation in case they don't watch TV."

Emmaline felt extremely conspicuous walking down the sidewalk in her uniform. However, Logan and Storm drew the most attention. Emmaline figured it was because of their unique hair styles, but it could have been Storm's recent media publicity as mutant spokesperson and Logan's dangerously angry attitude.

People generally steered clear of the small group. Emmaline gently nudged away anyone who got too close to her, but the other three members of the team declined being included in the protective circle. The crowds and attention made her uneasy.

"Ignore them," Logan told her, scowling at the nearest gawker, who quickly averted her gaze.

"We're almost there," Storm said, referring to a handheld GPS device.

The building was eerily quiet when they stepped inside. The large open room was a rundown art studio, though it had no business and looked as if it hadn't for years. "Hello?" Storm called. She looked down at her GPS again, brow furrowed. "They should be right here…"

Beside her, Logan sniffed the air uneasily. He lunged forward to knock Storm to the ground as the first knife sped through the air where Storm had been and imbedded itself to the hilt in the nearby wall.

Emmaline immediately encircled Scott and her two fallen companions in her shield, just in time to block another knife and dissipate Scott's defensive laser beam. Logan got to his feet and faced where the attack had come from. "What's your problem?" he snapped.

"We're here to help you," Scott said more diplomatically. "We're with the X-Men. Have you been informed of the situation?"

"We can handle them," a gruff voice told them, hidden in the rafters overhead. "Get out."

Storm consulted her GPS. "There are… six of you here?"

"Yeah, plenty to handle the metal guy and his gang," said another voice.

"He won't even try to mess with us," said the first voice.

"You're underestimating Magneto," Scott warned. "There is a shelter nearby where you can be safe."

"I said we can handle it," the voice said. Another knife clattered harmlessly to the floor by the shield, a foot from Scott's head.

"We're clearly not wanted here," Logan said to Storm and Scott, who both looked like they wanted to keep trying to persuade the violent mutants. Emmaline stood by the back of the shield, looking around the seemingly empty studio nervously.

"If you change your mind—" Storm began.

"We won't. Get out."

Storm finally nodded, backing away. At ease with Emmaline's shield around him, Scott turned around to face Emmaline. "Keep it up until we're out of range," he told her.

She nodded and led them out of the building, feeling several pairs of unseen eyes trained on her.

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Emmaline sighed loudly when they approached the steps of public library. They had been trudging through the city streets after their mutants. There were few places to park in the city, so they parked farther away and walked. While Emmaline was in good shape, three blocks during a New Jersey summer in a heavy leather suit was not fun. Emmaline pushed loose hair strands from her eyes and started up the steps.

"Our next mutant is a librarian?" Logan echoed her thoughts.

Storm looked back at him over her shoulder. "Not every stray mutant is a mercenary or in a gang," she pointed out. "Besides, it could just be getting a book."

The library was refreshingly cool and quiet compared to the city outside. The size and dress of their group obviously alerted the library staff that they were not there to check out books because an elderly lady approached them. "How may I help you?" she asked, looking them over.

"Hello," Storm greeted, smiling. The librarian did not relax despite Storm's cheerful greeting. "We're looking for someone named Victoria White," she told her, consulting the information on her GPS from the Professor. "Would you mind asking for her over your intercom system? We would really appreciate it."

The librarian shook her head. "There's no need for me to use the intercom system and interrupt everyone. She works on the lowest level in archives." She eyed them appraisingly. "I'll take you there myself," she told them.

Scott nodded and led the way as they walked through the tall stacks of books in the well used library. After climbing down a flight of stairs, they reached the dark basement full of dusty books and manuscripts. Scott and Storm looked around, fascinated, but Logan and Emmaline stood farther back, more interested in finding the mutant.

The librarian called out, "Victoria, people are here to see you."

She sounded uncertain whether she should leave them there among the old books until she received the reply. "Thank you, Marian. I'll be right out," a voice called back.

The librarian gave them one last wary look before retreating back up the stairs to her beloved library.

Victoria White emerged. She looked slightly older than Emmaline with short blonde hair cut in at a sharp angle from the back of her neck and her bright green eyes were slightly obscured by glasses. Her long fingers were covered in a fine layer of dust from handling the books.

She looked irritated to be disturbed. "Yes?" she asked, seeming not to notice their distinctive uniforms.

"Victoria White?" Storm asked, looking at her GPS to confirm this was the mutant.

"Call me Tori," the woman replied. "Can I help you? If you're looking for manuscripts, I'll need to see some identification."

"We're not looking for manuscripts," Scott told her. "We were looking for you."

Tori raised her eyebrows. "Oh," she said. "Is this about the Magneto issue?"

They nodded. Storm and Scott exchanged a look, clearly thrown off by her nonchalance. "Have you considered relocating to the safe house?" Storm asked her.

She shook her head. "There's no need to worry about me. My power's not very useful." She sounded slightly bitter, but covered it up by smiling at the group. "Thank you for your consideration," she said.

"What's your mutation?" Scott asked.

"I can… memorize things," she said.

Storm gave an encouraging smile. "That could be a very useful smile."

The woman laughed. "What would I do, memorize phone numbers or something? There's nothing I can do that would be useful to Magneto… or you guys. But thank you," she said yet again before turning back to the shelves.

Looking closer, Emmaline realized that the vast collection of books was alphabetized. "Does your power help you do this?" she asked, though Storm had told her to be quiet while they were talking with the mutants.

"Yes," Tori said, shrugging. "When I see something I remember when and where I saw it, along with every detail about it. Not useful for much, but it helps in a library."

Storm sighed. "It could be very useful, Ms. White. We just need more time to study it. Would you be willing to go to the safe house until we can find another location for you?"

"I have a job here and I want to keep it. Magneto's not going to go out of his way to find me." Once again she shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere."

"But—" Scott began.

She whirled on them, eyes flashing. Suddenly she did not seem like the harmless librarian they had first expected her to be. "Leave me alone," she snapped. Logan frowned at her sudden aggression, but his claws stayed hidden. Storm shook her head at Scott to stop him from replying. Seeing that they were not going to keep arguing, she smiled. "Once again, thank you for your time."

"And the score is still zero for the X-Men," Scott muttered, turning away.

Emmaline watched the librarian disappear behind a bookshelf and frowned. If she had not known about her own powers' helpfulness, would she have thought the same thing about her mutation?

_Please review!_


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of the day went by with similar results. Violence or silence met all of their diplomatic entreaties. By the time they reached the last address on their list for the day, the X-Men were tired and disheartened. Emmaline's shield had been in constant motion during the day, since none of her companions took kindly to being shielded when not in immediate danger.

The hallways of the apartment were narrow and decrepit, with water stains on the ceiling and an oppressive scent of mildew permeating the entire building. Logan in particular seemed thrown off by the smell. The apartment they were looking for was on the third floor, but the group took the stairs instead of the rundown elevator.

It was close to seven at night, and there were sounds of conversation, television, and cutlery clinking on plates around the building. Despite its clear poverty, Emmaline felt calmer there than any of the other buildings they had entered over the course of the day. This place had normal human problems, rather than seeming the home of dangerous mutants.

There were muffled female voices inside the target apartment. Storm pressed the button to ring the doorbell and stepped back from the door in case someone attacked.

There was the sound of footsteps approaching the door. There was a shadow as someone looked through the peephole, and then the sounds of locks being undone. The door opened, but a thin chain remained between the occupant and the X-Men. It was a girl in her late teens with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She smiled at the mutants. "Can I help you?" she asked easily.

Storm returned the smile. "We're with the X-Men. Do you know why we're here?" she asked.

The girl frowned. "Um, no? Are you with the government?" She eyed their matching uniforms. "We're eighteen—it's completely legal for us to be living here."

Behind her, another girl said, "Did they say the X-Men?" The first girl turned back to the other and nodded. Emmaline could now see the other girl. She was sitting at a worn table, shuffling a deck of Uno cards. She had stylishly cut dark brown hair that didn't quite touch her shoulders and matching dark eyes. Her pale skin stood out in the poorly illuminated apartment, but her dark clothes blended eerily with her surroundings. She rolled her eyes. "That's that mutant organization, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" The first girl turned back to the door. "Would you like to come in?" she offered.

"Alli…" the seated girl said warningly.

"If they're really mutants, it's not like this little chain would stop them from coming in anyways," the other girl pointed out.

"We would love to come in," Storm said. Emmaline understood why they brought Storm out on diplomatic missions. Despite her strong powers, she was extremely disarming. "We have things to talk with you about."

The girl closed the door, removed the lock, and then opened the door all the way to let them in. "I'm Allison McGuire," the first girl said. She gestured for them to sit at the plastic chairs circling around the table. Scott, Emmaline, and Storm sat down gingerly. Logan stayed standing, arms folded as he watched the two girls warily.

The apartment was small. The kitchen led to two small bedrooms, but Emmaline could see no other rooms. Though it was in ill-repair, the apartment was personalized with movie posters and expansive bookshelves. The colors were muted because of the poor lighting, but it was clearly a home, not just a hangout like some of the mutant groups they had approached had been in.

"That's Heather," Allison said, gesturing to the other girl. Heather gave them a small nod, still shuffling the Uno cards. She still looked wary of the group. Allison laughed. "Say 'hello,' Heather."

"Hello, Heather," the girl said sarcastically.

"I'm Storm," Storm greeted.

"Cyclops," Scott said. Emmaline looked over at Scott, frowning. She had never heard his mutant name before.

"Wolverine," Logan growled. "And this is Aegis," he said, gesturing to Emmaline. She raised an eyebrow at him, but did not argue. She was sure they had a reason to introduce themselves without using their real names.

"Oh, our mutant names are Fille de L'eau and Lethi," Allison said, "but we only go by those with humans."

"Isn't it normally opposite?" Emmaline asked, unable to hold her tongue.

Heather shrugged. "We trust mutants a whole lot more than humans."

Allison went to the fridge and tossed Heather a water bottle and grabbed herself a vanilla Coke. "Can I offer you all any drinks?"

Scott shook his head. "Thank you though. Do you have access to a television here?" he asked them.

They exchanged a look and nodded. "How else could we play Guitar Hero?" Allison grinned. "Why?"

"There's been a very important memo sent out to mutants," Storm told them. "Magneto has been confronting small groups of mutants and forcing them to join the Brotherhood."

"And if we refused?" Allison asked, leaning against the refrigerator.

"He'd kill you," Scott said grimly. "We have reason to believe that Magneto is somewhere in this city. A shelter has been set up nearby where you can stay safe until the threat in this area passes."

Storm nodded. "We can escort you there now, if you are interested."

Heather and Allison looked at each other. They either knew each other very well or one was a telepath, because they nodded together. Allison looked at the other mutants. "Not really in the mood to die," she said. "Just give us a minute to pack some stuff."

Emmaline had been watching the two closely, and suddenly said, "You two aren't really eighteen yet, are you?"

Heather froze and turned to Emmaline with narrowed eyes. If looks could kill, Emmaline would have burst into flame right there. Thankfully, that didn't seem to be Heather's power. Allison just shrugged. "Yeah, we're seventeen. Once our powers manifested, we didn't think it'd be a good idea to stick around our houses. Traditional Southern families are nice for hearty food, but are close-minded about change."

Scott seemed to understand Emmaline's train of thought. "Then you're qualified to be students at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters," he said. "There you can learn to control your powers and can get your high school degree along the way."

"We looked into it a while back," Allison admitted. "It seemed awesome, but the tuition was a bit out of our range."

"Try _way_ out of our range," Heather corrected.

Storm shook her head. "Money doesn't matter. We would never stop a prospective student from coming to our school because of something like that. Our alum are very generous."

"Storm, Wolverine, and I are all teachers there," Scott told them. "We can speak for the whole institution when we say you'd be welcome there. If you agree we can collect all of your things and take you there. We still have to check in on this city's security, but we could get you there in the next few days."

Again, Allison and Heather exchanged a brief glance. "Definitely," Allison said.

While the girls packed, Scott asked, "How did you know how old they were?"

Emmaline shrugged. "Before I was legal, I used to tell everyone I was the second I thought they might ask. Once I really was eighteen, I didn't feel the need to tell everyone. If anyone asked, I could prove it then. I'm glad I was right."

Storm nodded, leaned back in her chair. "They seem like nice girls… and this doesn't seem like a nice place."

"Before Drew, this was how Jamie and I lived," Emmaline admitted, looking around the small apartment.

"Then you got to 'housesit' nice houses, like mine," Scott said, grinning.

Logan frowned, still standing imposingly behind Emmaline's chair. "We don't even know what their powers are," he reminded them. "Youth doesn't mean innocence. They could be shape-shifters for all we know."

"I can turn invisible," Heather said, appearing from a shadow at the edge of the kitchen. Startled, Logan turned on her with his claws out, but Storm waved a hand at him to back down. "Allison controls water. We're not 'shape-shifters' and we have more reason not to trust you than you have not to trust us."

"Oh, so Fille de L'eau is French for water girl? I knew I knew that word, but I haven't taken French in years," Emmaline said, suddenly understanding Allison's mutant name.

Heather nodded. "And I'm Lethi, like a lethifold from Harry Potter." She shrugged at Emmaline's smile. "We came up with them one night a few years ago and they just stuck."

Emmaline shrugged. "They're interesting," she said honestly. Once Heather had gone back into her room to grab her suitcase, Emmaline leaned over to Logan. "So now I'm Aegis? What even _is_ that?"

Scott looked over at Logan, brows raised and a smirk on his face. "_You've_ read Greek mythology?" he asked him. He was relaxed in the old apartment in stark contrast to Logan, who had not uncrossed his arms since he had entered the room.

Logan scowled. "I just heard somewhere that it meant 'shield'. You're just lucky I didn't just call you 'Bubble' or something," he told Emmaline, meeting her eyes as if challenging her to argue.

"Aegis is better than Bubble," Emmaline admitted.

Allison entered the room, struggling under the weight of a cardboard box in her arms and an overstuffed duffel bag on her shoulder. "Here," Scott said, stepping forward. "Let me carry some of that."

Heather came out directly after Scott took the box from Allison, two boxes set on top of her rolling suitcase. "We're ready," she told the mutant team.

Storm stood up. "Is there anything else you need to wrap up here before we leave?" she asked them.

Heather looked around the dingy apartment, a frown tugging at her lips. "No. We're done here."

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Emmaline was impressed by the sharp request for identification when the X-Men approached the door to the YMCA that had been designated as the local mutant safe house. "We're the X-Men," Scott said, gesturing to their uniforms.

The unseen guardian was not sold. "We get people in here all the time claiming to be with the X-Men," the guard told them. "People are desperate to seem like they are heroes. For all we know, you could be with the Brotherhood."

Scott sighed in frustration. "If we _were_ with the enemy, would we be asking politely for permission?" he asked, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

"Actually," the guard said, "you might. If you knew what my power was, you wouldn't try getting in by force."

Storm spoke up, taking her familiar role of diplomat. "What is your power?" she asked politely.

The guard emerged from the shadows beside the door. He was tall and in his forties, with silver streaks in his black hair. His skin was worn and tan, as though he had spent many years of his life outdoors. "Ah ah ah," he said, shaking his head. "Now if you were the enemy that's exactly the question you'd ask. You'd want to know how to use it against me."

This time it was Storm who was frustrated. "How exactly do you want us to prove this to you?" she asked.

"Well, where do you live?" the guard asked.

"At the school," Scott said. "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, where we're based."

The guard looked over him with a frown. "Do you have any identification?" he asked.

Scott snorted. "We're not the government—we don't carry identification."

Logan stalked forward, tearing a chain off his neck. He thrust a pair of dog tags at the guard. "Wolverine. Is that identification enough for you?"

The guard did not seem intimidated by Logan's show of anger. He inspected the tags slowly, then nodded. "These seem legit," he said. "All right, let them in."

The doors behind him slung open to reveal the brightly lit interior of the YMCA.

The guard gave them brief directions and sent them inside, resuming his post outside the doors. They entered a large gymnasium which was covered in sleeping bags. Some of the sleeping bags were already occupied by small children. However, the majority of the mutants were standing on the edges of the room, talking quietly.

There was a wide variety of people present. Some were young and rebellious at the protection. Some were old and disgruntled at the change of routine. Families clustered together, looking worried despite the obvious security measures. None looked happy to be there.

When the X-Men approached, silence fell on the surrounding groups. They clearly knew who they were. A woman approached with dark skin and professionally tailored clothes. "Hello," she said. "My name is Silverwing. I was in charge of the coordination for this location. I can show you what defenses we have here."

As they walked, she continued, "I appreciate you sending out that warning. This city has many mutants, but few that would be willing to sacrifice their time for a few days for protection. Luckily, your message was enough to convince many of the them to come here. I understand you met with some other ones today."

Storm nodded. "Yes, we were, but we only got these two girls to accompany us." She gestured to heather and Allison, who was standing close together talking. "The rest of the mutants we spoke to were… less cooperative than expected."

Bethany nodded. "Yes, we're in a city, you know. Most people who are different, mutant or otherwise, find it easier to be tough than to cooperate with anyone."

Logan nodded at her words, looking around the area. "You've got some variety here," he noted.

"Yes, we do, and not all of them get along," she replied, "but we're trying to get along. You'll be sure to alert us once Magneto's force is gone from this area, won't you?"

Storm nodded, taking charge of the conversation for the X-Men. "Yes, we will," she said.

Scott, the nominal leader, stood farther back, looking around. Emmaline could not see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but she was sure they were analyzing the fortifications of the gymnasium. They were subtle, but there. Every corner and doorway was equipped with a camera. The traditional high ceilings were enforced with temporary metal bars against the top, presumably to block against aerial attacks. They had already seen the suspicious guard out front and Silverwing had assured them that there were similar people at each entrance. She told them that they were all former or current police or military. "I think the guard we met was military," Logan growled to Emmaline, talking softly so no one could hear him.

Emmaline nodded. "I can imagine that," she said.

Scott looked around. "We'll stay here for the night," Scott told Silverwing. It was the first Emmaline had heard that and she furrowed her eyebrows. "That way if anything happens we can help control the situation."

Silverwing nodded, relieved. "Do you have sleeping bags?" she asked them.

"Yes," Storm replied, taking back over the conversation. "Back in the jet. We'll return here soon." She paused, a smile softening her lips. "Please tell the guards to let us in next time."

"No promises," Silverwing returned, grinning.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The gymnasium was full of quiet shuffling and mutterings. It was past midnight and quiet time had started at eleven, though some of the older mutants had objected to a curfew. Emmaline was lying in a standard issue navy sleeping bag between Storm and Logan. The gymnasium was full, with over one hundred mutants gathered, but floor space was not hard to find. Families were gathered together but most were isolated alone. The X-Men were clustered by the largest door because, as Scott said, that would be the first place attacked.

Before they had all gone to beg, Scott had spoken to the general assembly, thanking them for taking the initiative to be safe rather than sorry and to remind to not leave the building at night and to travel around with a minimal of two other people. One teenage mutant nearby muttered, "Who does he think he is, my dad?" There were muttered agreements.

Scott ignored the unrest and smiled at the mutants. "Goodnight everyone," he had said before gesturing to a mutant who shut off all the lights with a snap of his fingers.

Emmaline curled uncomfortably on her side. Had it only been last night that she had been trudging to Logan's room, asking him to guard her in her sleep? It seemed like forever ago because so much had happened in the last day.

It constantly amazed her how much her feelings towards Logan had changed since she had met him. No longer was he the loud brute who had attempted to slice through her shield on her first night in the mansion. He was tough but not callous, strong but unwilling to use his force against those he deemed did not warrant it.

He was lying on his back beside her with his eyes closed so she could look at him without fear of being caught staring. It was too dark to see him clearly, but his close presence gave her a sense of security she had not felt in a long time. Having him, Scott, and Storm close by set her nerves closer to ease at the prospect of sleeping in a gymnasium full of potentially dangerous mutants.

Before she had left for the mission, Dr. Reyes had reminded that if she didn't sleep full nights, she would be removed from active duty and sent back to the mansion until they could decide how to insure her well-being. Emmaline had taken the responsibility for this mission, and needed to follow through. She sighed and clenched her eyes closed futilely.

Emmaline shuffled in her sleeping bag, uncomfortable in the heat. Her shield was close around her so it did not brush against anyone nearby. Her thoughts drifted slowly, but she could not let herself fall asleep in the crowded gym. She groaned, frustrated at her own lingering fear of the mutants around her. She was sure she'd be able to wake up in time to shield her and her partners from an attack.

Beside her, Logan stirred and she opened her eyes to find him on his side looking at her. "Can't sleep?" he said quietly.

She sighed. "How'd you guess?"

He laughed softly, a quiet chuckle that was more a reverberation than a vocalization. "Your tossing, turning, and heavy sighs might have given it away," he said.

"Did I wake you up?" she asked softly.

"I was already awake too," he admitted. "A lot of people in here."

Emmaline nodded, understanding him completely. "Too many," she said. Storm moved in her sleep, making Emmaline drop her voice even more. "It doesn't help that they're all mutants."

Logan heard her despite her lowered volume. "Walk with me," he suggested, propping himself up on one elbow to see her better. From anyone else it would have been a question.

"Didn't Scott say we needed a group of three?" she asked, smiling because she knew she was going to go with him anyways.

"Your shield is our third," he said. He stood up, moving with surprising silence considering his size. He had changed from his uniform to his traditional wife beater and sweatpants.

Emmaline nodded and extracted herself from her sleeping bag, trying to emulate Logan's silence. She looked over the expanse of resting mutants, not put at ease by their seeming calm. Logan tilted his head to one of the side doors. It was dark but Logan's steps led them neatly around all of the people between them and the door. He waved vaguely at the camera over the door before opening it and allowing Emmaline to go first.

When they cleared the doorway, she extended her shield over Logan. "I don't need you to guard me," he said softly when he felt the shield pass over him.

Emmaline met his eyes. "If you get to guard me when I'm asleep, I get to guard you when you're awake. It's not likely you're going to need to jump into a fight now anyways. I feel better knowing you're safe. It's just a thing I have," she said with a shrug, expecting for him to tell her to take back her shield.

He simply nodded and gestured for her to choose a direction to walk.

They walked in silence through the dark, quiet hallways of the YMCA. Even when they were out of earshot the gym, they did not speak. Emmaline found that walking helped her sort through all of her thoughts and fears. Logan's steady presence encouraged her calm contemplation.

His dark eyes were inscrutable when she caught them flicking towards her. He stopped walking when she met his gaze and she stopped with him. They were next to a window on the first floor of the YMCA looking out over the parking lot out front. Moonlight bathed them both in a pale silvery light that enhanced the contours of Logan's face and body.

"That's what it will be like if you keep with this stupid mission," Logan said finally, surprising her. It sounded like that while her thoughts calmed as she walked, his became stronger. "You'll be surrounded by mutants you don't know, don't trust, except they'll be in here." He tapped the edge of her shield.

"I know," she said softly.

"Don't lie to me and say it doesn't bother you," Logan said, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.

She rolled her eyes. "Why are you always trying to start an argument with me? You know that would bother me, but I'm willing to try it. I owe the Professor at least this much for letting Jamie and Drew stay at the school."

"Damn it, you don't owe him anything!" Logan argued, slamming an angry fist in the impenetrable shield.

Emmaline frowned, disconcerted by his anger on her behalf and annoyed by his confidence in the words she couldn't believe. "I can make my own decisions, you know. Why does it even matter to you?" she snapped.

He took a step closer to her. This close she could feel the brush of his clothes on her crossed arms. Her heartbeat picked up as she looked into his dark eyes. The security she had begun feeling in his presence was gone, replaced with a thrilling sense of danger. "You really don't know?" he breathed.

"Help!" The scream came from outside. They both whirled to look out the window. The parking lot lights illuminated an unsteadily running figure. Emmaline knew the dark blotches on her pale shirt were not from the designer.

"Let me out," Logan said, standing at the edge of her shield. Emmaline complied and he immediately crashed into the window, rolling out into the parking lot and racing towards the woman.

Emmaline climbed out the window, using her shield to stop any glass shards for touching her and ran after Logan. When he reached the woman she stumbled and fell. He caught her just in time. "What happened?" he demanded loudly enough for Emmaline to hear.

As she got closer, she recognized the woman as Victoria White, the librarian they had talked to earlier in the day. There were blood stains on her left shoulder, lower stomach, and a jagged scratch had sliced open her pants by her thigh. "Magneto... I guess he did want my power," she managed before losing consciousness.

_Please review!_


	12. Chapter 12

They only roused the rest of the X-Men and Silverwing, who was in charge of the Newark mutants, to inform them about the attack on Victoria White. They gathered in a small medical room. The room's lights were bright fluorescents, shocking Emmaline's eyes after the previous darkness. They sat around the circular table as Storm patched Tori's wounds.

Emmaline couldn't look too closely at the proceedings. It wasn't the blood that made her queasy—in fact, she had been the one slapping Neosporin and band-aids on Jamie's childhood scrapes—but the idea of being attacked by mutants who were willing to kill. Her gratitude for her shield increased as the night progressed. The team was silent until Tori was bandaged and Storm declared her out of immediate danger.

"You're very lucky this cut wasn't an inch over," Storm told her, gesturing to the bandage wrapped around her stomach. "Important organs might have been sliced." Tori shuddered.

"What happened?" Scott asked her quietly.

"I was in my apartment, finishing up some bills, when I heard the crash. I remembered what you had said about Magneto, but still assumed it was something else." She shook her head at herself. "So stupid. I suddenly realized that the crash had been the window in my kitchen and that they were in my apartment. I turned off all the lights and slipped past them. They knew I was there though. I don't think Magneto was one of them, but they made me the offer. I was right by the window, so I thought I'd be able to answer and still get out." She laughed, slow and self-mocking.

Storm smiled, sitting next to her. "You _did_ make it out."

Tori looked down at the bandages covering her wounds and spoke like that, not looking up at them. "It was a close thing. I told them I would never join the Brotherhood. He was faster than I expected. He threw knives at me, hitting me in my shoulder and stomach. I panicked and botched the jump out of the window," she said, gesturing to her leg. "I had memorized the best path from my room to the ground—not on purpose. Like I said, I memorize things automatically—and the quickest way to get here. I was just lucky my apartment was so close to the YMCA."

Storm nodded, patting her unwounded shoulder sympathetically. "You're safe now," she told her.

Tori groaned. "I should have listened to you earlier today," she said. "I was just too cocky."

"Don't beat yourself up," Scott said. "Besides, I think the problem was you _didn't_ have enough confidence, in your powers at least. All that matters is you survived. Not many can say that."

"How _did_ you make it when so many other mutants didn't?"Logan asked, watching her closely.

"I guess my power is sort of useful. I've watched a lot of movies. I had memorized some moves from them that I never tested out, but my muscles just knew what to do. I used my memories of ninjas to get by them and jump out of the window," she explained, not offended by Logan's suspicion. She blinked, looking over at Scott. "Do you have a pencil and some paper?"

Silverwing said, "I can get you some," and left the room.

"Why?" Scott asked.

"I can draw the mutants that were in my apartment so everyone can keep an eye out for them," she explained.

Logan raised an eyebrow at her, never relaxing though Emmaline thought it was obvious she was an enemy of Magneto. "Sounds like your power is a lot more useful than you led us to believe. You had to have known its helpfulness." His dark eyes were challenging.

Unlike Emmaline, Tori rose to the argument. "With a brain like mine, I don't see how I couldn't," Tori told him coldly. "I knew what I could do, but I also knew—from experience—that other mutants completely underestimate my ability, especially if I degrade it myself. I don't see any reason I should have been truthful to you all, just showing up in my library like that."

Logan growled at the implication that they were not as intelligent as her, but Storm shushed him. Emmaline was surprised when he didn't argue back, settling back into a glare at Tori. Storm spoke to Tori. "If your memory is as you say, then you should have remembered that Magneto will go to any lengths to make the Brotherhood succeed. You shouldn't have taken the chance."

"But I was serious when I said I wanted to go on living how I was. I honestly didn't think Magneto would understand the uses of my power—from the news I pick up the pattern that he underestimates anyone not in the Brotherhood. Like I said, it was stupid of me to think I could slip by him," she said.

"I wish we knew how Magneto was finding you all," Scott muttered, sighing.

Silverwing came back in the room with pen and paper in hand. "I couldn't find a pencil," she said, handing the librarian the supplies.

"That's fine, I don't need an eraser," Tori shrugged, then bent over the paper and began sketching.

Logan turned back to Emmaline, who hovered at the back of the room, secure separately in her shield. An hour before she had been at least attempting to sleep in the stuffy gymnasium, though with little success, but now she was even more set on edge than before. Weariness dragged at her, but there was no chance of her sleeping that night with a victim of Magneto so fresh on her mind. He looked over her and she wondered what sort of figure she cut. Her dark hair was messy from nervously fidgeting with it and she was in her casual camisole and shorts pajama set. She must have looked as tired as she felt because Logan said firmly, "You need sleep."

"I'm fine," she said, crossing her arms.

Scott looked over at his words and also gave Emmaline an once-over. "We don't need either of you here," he said. "Go on back to the gym. Storm, Silverwing, you can also leave if you'd like."

"I'm already awake," Silverwing said, shrugging.

Storm shook her head. "I want to see what she draws." Tori had already finished drawing the majority of the first face and was steadily shadowing the features. "I already slept a few hours anyways."

"I'm really not even tired. I'm a member of the team too, now, so I should be able to see what she draws too," Emmaline protested.

"You can see it in the morning," Logan told her.

"This is—" Emmaline began, annoyed.

"Emmaline," Scott said sharply, clearly speaking as the team leader, not as her friend. "You look exhausted. You're no help to us if you're too tired to function. Go back to the gym."

"You're not in charge of me," Emmaline snapped.

"Actually, on this mission I am." Seeing she was about to argue, he pulled his ace card. "Dr. Reyes told me to make sure you got enough sleep or you're off the team. Now, go back to the gym."

Seeing that arguing was hopeless, Emmaline turned on her heel and left the small room. The darkness in the hallway was complete after the brightly lit room and she paused to gain her bearings. Logan came out behind her. "Follow me," he said.

"Why?" she snapped.

"I can see in the dark," he told her, heading off to the left. Emmaline followed the sound of his footsteps, fuming to herself. "What did you think of Victoria White?" he asked her, a few steps in front of her.

"What I _think_ is that you need to stop trying to make decisions for me," she replied.

He stopped and turned back to her. She couldn't see him well, but his voice was incredulous. "What?"

"You're treating me like I'm three, not twenty-three. I'm a member of the team too, so Scott obviously thinks I can take care of myself," she said.

"Scott's the one who told you to get some sleep," he reminded her.

"Only because you brought it up! You should just let me be," Emmaline argued.

"What's your problem?" he asked, voice lowered into a dangerous growl.

"What's _your_ problem?" she returned. "Yeah, I asked you to guard my room a few times but that doesn't mean you can start setting my bedtime. I've been living on my own for years and I can make my own decisions about things like sleeping and joining the team." She took a deep breath and lowered her voice so she wouldn't wake up the rest of the building. "I'm on this mission so I can help, not hide back in my shield or sleep the night away."

"You're on this mission to shield. That's it. No one in there needed that, which means none of them needed you. If it wasn't for your power there's no way the Professor would have said you were 'ready' for this job," he growled at her.

"That's not true," Emmaline argued, offended though they both knew it was true. Even though she hadn't been on the team very long, she was confident in her own abilities. Her shield, at least, would see her safely through all situations.

"And I'm treating you like a three year old because you obviously can't be trusted with your own safety," he continued, voice rising.

"You care about my safety? Really? I seem to remember my first night at the mansion being _attacked_ by you. You know, what, Logan? Whatever. You're not in charge of me."

He growled, an angry, feral sound. "Well then, I'll just go back to talk with Scott and Storm. Sleep, don't sleep, I don't care." He stalked past her, back towards the room. He shouldered her shield on the way past, resulting only in him grunting in pain before leaving her alone.

She stood locked in indecision in the middle of the hallway. At first she turned to follow Logan—they couldn't keep her out. But she really was tired and she didn't want to prove Logan right that she was acting like a child, she thought, turning back to the gym.

Then again, if those three could handle a night without sleep, wasn't she the child for wimping out? She pivoted on her heel and took several steps, and then threw up her arms in extreme frustration and stumbled her way through the black hallways back to the gymnasium.

The gymnasium was even quieter than when she had left it an hour before. She curled up, surrounded by the empty sleeping bags of the rest of the team. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off. She'd sleep all right, just not how Dr. Reyes advocated. She just needed to close her eyes, not drop her shield and dream. There was no EEG here to monitor her sleep.

Emmaline hovered near unconsciousness, in such a light sleep that she was woken every time someone shuffled near her. She double-checked her shield was still in place, and then would close her eyes once again. She heard Logan, Storm, and Scott come in a few hours later and feigned deep sleep.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Emmaline had already been awake for several hours when Scott and Storm joined her in the small cafeteria. It consisted of a variety of food and drink vending machines. Since Emmaline had no money with her, she was sitting at an empty table at the edge of the room, watching the rest of the mutants. She had stayed in her pajamas rather than put on the stiff leather uniform but had combed her hair with her fingers and looked awake.

"I'll grab us some food," Storm told her, walking over to the vending machines. Like Emmaline, she was dressed her pajamas, a silky purple nightgown. She walked with confidence despite the amount of strangers in the room.

"Good morning," Scott said, sliding into the chair next to Emmaline. He had already changed into his uniform. "How did you sleep?" he asked her.

"Fine," Emmaline said shortly. She had never allowed herself to fall into a real sleep, and had been awoken often. Still, it was how she had slept for the past few years. She wouldn't show them how tired she felt.

Scott nodded. "Good. Tori drew us the mutants who attacked her. There were three of them, less than we expected. She said that she had seen the one who could throw knives before."

Emmaline gasped. "The one we talked to?" she asked.

"We think so," Scott said. "Almost of the mutants we spoke to yesterday have disappeared from the Professor. We're not sure how many of them joined him and how many were killed. Magneto has found a way to block the Brotherhood from the Professor," he explained.

Emmaline nodded. "Are we going to go back and check the locations again then?" she asked.

He shook his head. "We need to focus on those we can still save. There are about a dozen more we can still check in on today, plus five from yesterday that are still around," he said.

Storm sat down next to Scott, setting four waters and several packs each of honey buns, powdered donuts, chips, and cinnamon Pop-Tarts. "Dig in," she encouraged. "We've got a long day ahead of us."

Logan entered the room, also clad in his pajamas. He scanned the area and then joined the small group. He sat on the other side of Storm, which put him directly across the table from Emmaline. He didn't say anything to them as he grabbed several packs of food and a water bottle.

"Are we going to tell everyone about Tori White?" Emmaline asked Scott, voice slightly lowered so the other occupants in the room wouldn't hear her. Logan didn't even look up at her to acknowledge that she spoke. She assumed he was still mad at her from the night before—she didn't care. She was mad at him too, even if she knew it was childish. Well, he was the one who had told her she was a child.

"Not specifically. Tori asked us not to put her in the spotlight, but we'll tell them there was another set of attacks here last night to remind them why it's a good idea for them to stay put here," Scott replied.

Storm added, "As you could tell, people are starting to get antsy hiding away here. We don't want them leaving before the coast is clear."

**Please review! Lots of action next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

The day went by similarly to the day before. Despite the attacks the night before—or perhaps because of them—the city's mutants were reluctant to talk to the X-Men. Today, however, they knew what to expect.

By the time the sun set, they were disheartened and annoyed. Logan had avoided speaking to Emmaline all together during the day, and she had found herself reluctant to shield him. He could heal anyways and letting him near her when she was vulnerable seemed like a bad idea. Scott, however, instructed her to shield the entire team. He also noticed Logan's short temper, and confided that he was worried Logan would attack one of the mutants they were trying to help.

The city looked different at night. The lights were brighter, the shadows darker. For part of the years before Emmaline and Jamie had met Drew, they had lived in similar cities. The bustle and noise set her on edge and she kept her shield slightly farther away from her body so no one could brush too closely to her.

The traffic was bad, so they walked from a distant parking garage to the last location on their list for the day. This target was moving constantly around the city, so it took them a while to pin it down. They approached a brightly lit Starbucks on a street corner. "The mutant's in there," Storm said, gesturing to the store.

"We'll wait until it comes out," Scott decided. They only had to wait a few minutes, but it seemed like a long time to the embarrassed Emmaline. Passersby eyed the X-Men, some nervous, some mocking. Finally, Storm gestured to a girl walking from the shop. "That's her," she said.

The girl was of medium height with long dark hair interlaced with magenta highlights. She was young and alone but walked with confidence through the crowded city streets. In one hand she held a frozen drink, and in the other a worn sketchbook. The X-Men took off after her. Storm consulted her GPS system, pulling up the information on the girl. "Delia Thompson?" she asked loudly, calling after the girl.

She did not hear them, and the X-Men hurried after her, people moving to avoid them. Delia turned a corner into a narrow alley that set Emmaline's nerves on edge, but they followed her, calling her name. Storm reached her first, and put a light hand on her shoulder. "Delia Thompson?"

The girl whirled around to face them, pulling iPod headphones from her ears. She was startled by their appearance, but did not hesitate in her actions. With a glow of teal light, the drink in her hand turned into a Glock. She leveled it at the team, glowering. Her irises gleamed pale yellow in the dark alley. "Back up," she ordered them.

Scott nodded to Emmaline, who shielded the team, relieved. Having them out in danger worried her. Storm held up her hands in the universal sign for peace. "Interesting mutation," she complimented. "We're with the X-Men. Have you been informed of the Magneto situation?"

The girl nodded once, watching them closely. "Yeah," she said. "And I'm not hiding from him. I can take him."

"There was another attack here in Newark last night," Storm told her. "If we could find you, so could Magneto."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Just leave me alone. I'm not coming with you."

"How old are you?" Scott asked her.

"Twenty-one," she snapped.

It was clearly a lie, but Scott was wise enough not to push it. Storm spoke again. "We understand relocating to the safe house is inconvenient, but it could mean your life. You understand the ultimatum, right?"

"Join or die?" Delia asked. "Yeah, I've heard it."

"And…?" Scott prompted.

"I'm not in the mood to die. It'd be easy. Say I'll join, then bail later. But I'm still just going to hope he doesn't find me," Delia said, slowly backing away from them, gun still leveled at Storm.

"Too late," said a pleasant voice. There was a blur of movement and a tall, dark mutant had Delia in a chokehold. He looked at the X-Men and smiled, revealing pointed teeth. "Thanks for distracting her," he said, winking.

"Let her go," Scott said.

"Not likely," he replied. Another mutant leapt down from the building and stood next to Delia and her captor. He crossed his arms, a green sheen covering his skin. "Any of you make a move and I'll hand this one over to Arsenic here. Miss Scarlet, how long do you think she can survive being exposed to that poison on his skin?"

Behind the team, another voice spoke up. It was light and disarming in its femininity. "I don't know, Tiberon, maybe thirty seconds?" Emmaline shot a look over her shoulder. The woman was directly behind them. She was curvy but slender and tall. Considering the two mutants in front of them, it seemed that they put their weakest link blocking their escape. Emmaline forced herself to not express her gratitude.

"Let down the shield," Scott muttered in Emmaline's ear. She nodded and quickly pulled the shield back in to just cover her. A beam of red light shot from Scott's glasses and hit Arsenic, making him fall backwards. Storm whirled around and punched at Miss Scarlet. The woman ducked easily, fighting with calm efficiency.

In a blur of teal light, the gun in Delia's hand turned into a large butcher knife which she proceeded to slam backwards into Tiberon's stomach. He grunted, but his grip on Delia did not falter. "You'll pay for that," he told her, backing them both slowly from the fight. Logan ran forward, but was halted when Arsenic reached out an arm and grabbed his ankle.

Scott hit the mutant with another beam of red light, knocking him out of the fight. Logan dislodged his leg from the weakened grasp, but could not continue after Delia and her captor, who were quickly disappearing in the darkness of the alley. "Scott, just get him to let her go for a second," Emmaline said, racing towards the pair. With super-speed, she was directly beside Delia in less than a second.

Scott paused, sending a focused beam at one of Tiberon's arms. He hissed and dropped that arm briefly, but Delia still wasn't free. When he was distracted, Delia reached a hand backwards and there was a teal light. Tiberon yelped and jumped backwards. He reached down and grabbed a rattlesnake, pulling it from his belt loops quickly. "Gods, woman," he growled, then lunged back towards Delia, but slammed into the edge of Emmaline's shield.

Safe within the shield, Delia let out a sigh and smiled at Emmaline. "Thanks," she said.

Emmaline nodded. "No problem. Come with me," she said before heading back towards the fight.

Arsenic and Logan were still out of commission, but Logan was clearly healing. Storm was still fighting with Miss Scarlet. One kick connected solidly with Storm's chest, sending her flying back into the alley's brick wall. "Scott, help me!" Storm snapped, rolling out of the way when her opponent tried to stomp on her stomach.

Scott was standing where he had been before, watching the fight with an open mouth. "Huh?" he asked Storm.

"Kill her!" Storm said, too injured to get to her feet.

Scott shook his head. "I couldn't fight with such a beautiful woman," he said with a sheepish smile as the mutant approached him. "Storm, you need to back off from her."

"Thanks, sweetheart," Miss Scarlet replied, winking at him. Emmaline was shocked to see Scott practically swoon. She got up next to him, delicately held his cheek with a palm and then smashed his head into the brick wall. Emmaline expected him to fight, but he just smiled when she did it again.

As Emmaline passed Logan, Delia on her heels, she asked, "What's his problem?"

Logan shrugged, leaned against the wall. "She is very beautiful," he said in the same dazed tone Scott had used. He looked up at her, frowning. "Maybe you should shield her. Storm won't leave her alone."

Emmaline's mouth dropped open. "She's beating up Scott," she reminded him. "I'm not going to protect her."

Logan scowled fiercely, trying to push himself to his feet. "If you won't, I will," he said. The effects of the poison were still in his system, so he could not get to his feet.

Delia understood first. "It's her mutation," she told Emmaline. "It must only work on men. I know I wouldn't mind kicking her ass." Logan's claws came out at her words, and he looked at the young mutant with deadly intent.

"You're staying in here," Emmaline told Delia, though she agreed with her. Storm stumbled to her feet, and Miss Scarlet stopped beating up the complacent Scott to fight with Storm. Emmaline stood by, watching their fight until she could intervene. When Storm went flying once again in the wall, not seeming as ready to get up again this time, Emmaline took advantage of Miss Scarlet standing alone. She thrust the shield forward quickly, pushing the mutant out of the alley. She slammed into the parked car directly outside of the alley and fell down to the street, unconscious.

Emmaline retracted her shield, and then encircled Scott, Storm and Logan. Once inside the shield, Scott and Logan snapped from their daze. Scott was still lying against the wall, holding his head in pain. "That was ridiculous," Scott said, moaning and holding his head. "It was like I wanted her to kill me."

Storm rushed to Scott's side. "Are you okay?" she asked him, leaning him from the wall to check him. The back and side of his head was covered in blood. Storm's white hair was stained with her own blood, but she was more focused on Scott's health than her own safety. "This is what you get when you think with your pants," she told him, frowning.

"It was her mutation," he protested before his head lolled back and he lost consciousness.

"You've got to have at least a concussion," she muttered. She stumbled when she stood up, clearly also injured. "Logan, can you carry him? We need to get back to the car."

Logan nodded and easily threw Scott over his shoulder. "Let's go," he said.

Emmaline had been uncomfortable with the stares before, but there were even more now her shield covered the whole bloodied group. People avoided them more, which was the only plus. To Emmaline's surprise, Delia was talkative despite her recent danger. She had not been physically hurt by the Brotherhood and was elated by her escape. "How long have you been with the X-Men?" she asked her. They walked together behind Storm and Logan, who was still carrying Scott.

"About a month," Emmaline admitted.

Delia shot her a surprised look. "That's not very long. You were really in control back there anyways."

"Thanks," Emmaline said, smiling. "You too. What exactly is your power? Turning things into weapons?"

She nodded. "Almost. I can turn objects into other objects. They've got to be about the same size and I have to have a good idea of what they look like, but other than that it's pretty limitless." She bent down and snatched an empty McDonald's cup from the city sidewalk and transformed it into the same frozen drink she had bought from Starbucks earlier. She took a sip and then wrinkled her nose. "I can never get food quite right. It tastes sweeter than normal. Still, blood got on my other one, so I'll settle for this."

"Ew," Emmaline said. "That would be disgusting."

"I'll have a venti Strawberry Crème Frapp with a shot of blood, please," Delia joked. Emmaline had to stop talking with Delia when Storm stumbled, clearly dizzy from pain. Emmaline offered her shoulder for Storm to lean on, and she accepted gratefully.

When they got to the parking garage, Storm stumbled again and had to lean against the shield wall to stabilize herself. "Emmaline, could you and Logan go up and get the car? I'm not sure if I can walk up all the stairs and the elevator was broken."

Logan set Scott down on the ground next to Storm with surprising gentleness and stood back up, brushing a streak of blood from his shoulder in irritation. "We'll be right down," Logan said.

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay down here and shield you all?" Emmaline asked looking from the two injured X-Men to the young mutant. "They could still be out there."

Storm shook her head. "I want you to go ahead and set up the back for Scott to lay down while Logan drives. From what I've seen, with Delia on our side we can take anyone who comes after us, even with me slightly incapacitated."

Delia grinned at her and nodded, turning her empty cup into a Glock again. "I can handle it," she told Emmaline. "Go on."

Emmaline removed her shield from the three, but kept it over herself and Logan. She was still on edge after the fight, and didn't like anyone left out in the open. Emmaline and Logan walked in silence for a few minutes until they were out of earshot of the group. "I didn't mean that I thought you were a kid," Logan said finally, breaking the silence.

Emmaline looked over at him, surprised. Logan didn't strike her as the type to apologize. "Well…okay, then," she said. "Sorry I freaked out at you."

He shrugged. "I have a bit of a temper."

"A bit?" Emmaline asked, trying not to laugh.

"Fine, a lot of a temper, so I overreacted when we were talking. I don't like the idea of you getting hurt." He stopped and turned towards her. The bright lights of the parking garage allowed her to see him clearly. His eyes were dark and completely focused on her.

Suddenly, he was standing directly in front of her. Before she could react to his movement, his lips were crashing down on hers. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer. The kiss was intense and possessive and Emmaline's heart raced until she thought it would burst.

Her mind caught up with her a few seconds later and she panicked, overwhelmed by the suddenness of the onslaught of feelings and emotions. Her shield snapped into place around her, pushing Logan's lips and arms away from her. He removed his arms, but his face stayed close to hers, waiting for her to speak. However, she wasn't sure she could be coherent with him so close. "I… Let me think," she said.

He watched her as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. That kiss had been amazing. Her first kiss since her house had burned down, and all those before that were inexperienced high school dates, not someone like Logan. Her skin still felt like it was on fire, and her mind was racing.

Seeing that she wasn't about to talk, Logan prompted, "Well?" His voice was gruff and calmer than she expected considering the passion in his eyes.

"Well?" she repeated, trying to understand the question. He just raised an eyebrow, watching her thoughts process. "Surprised," she said finally. "Maybe we could take this… slower? I…" She trailed off, not sure if he what he was thinking as he watched her.

"Slower doesn't mean stop," he told her. "You want this?"

Emmaline wondered if she should play hard to get, but found herself nodding. "I... like you, Logan," she said, though 'like' didn't begin to describe the emotions he created in her. He was security and danger, calm and thrill, friendship and lust, control and no control.

He chuckled. "I like you too, Emmaline," he said, face telling her that he thought the words inadequate too. "Slower," he repeated to himself, looking her over.

Emmaline sighed. "We should get the car," she said quietly, not quite ready to break the moment. "We don't want Scott to bleed to death down there."

"Maybe _you_ don't," Logan said, back in good humor in sharp contrast to his anger earlier in the day. "Let's go," he agreed.

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	14. Chapter 14

"Delia?" Heather asked when she saw the young mutant with the X-Men. They stood outside the YMCA, waiting for the jet.

Delia smiled, obviously recognizing the girl. "They roped you in too?" she asked, walking over to them.

"Are you coming back to the school too?" Allison asked her, surprised. "That'll be great for you. You dropped out a few years ago, right?"

Delia glowered at Allison. "No, I'm not."

Emmaline told them, "She told us she was twenty-one."

"No, she's seventeen like us," Heather said, ignoring Delia's glare. "You should come with us. There's no tuition and you can learn to use your power."

"I already know how to use my power, thanks, and I'm so over school," Delia replied stubbornly. "I'm just here to hide out in the Y until Magneto's group leaves."

"You can leave if you don't like it," Emmaline told her. Both Storm and Scott were not well enough to talk and Logan wasn't an ideal recruiting officer for the school, so Emmaline felt like it was her responsibility to get Delia to safety. "My brother—well, basically my brother—is seventeen also. He was also 'done with school' and didn't want to go, but I convinced him to and he really likes it now." 'Really likes it' was a bit of an exaggeration of Drew's feelings about the school, but she felt they were necessary.

"What have you got around here that's any better?" Heather asked her, shrugging.

There was a quiet noise as the jet appeared overhead and lowered itself automatically onto the empty parking lot, narrowly avoiding the street lamps. "Either way, you've got to make your choice. We've got to head back now to take care of Storm and Cyclops," she said, Scott's mutant name sounding weird on her tongue.

The jet landed and the stairs lowered automatically. "Coming? You can get someone to send you your things later," Emmaline said.

Finally, Delia nodded. Reminding Emmaline of Drew, she said, "But if I don't like it, I'm out."

"All right," Emmaline nodded before helping Storm on to the jet, followed by Logan. Scott was awake now, but dazed, so Logan walked behind him to stop him from falling down.

"Let's get you patched up," Emmaline muttered to Storm, helping her to the back of the plane. Storm punched in the code and the doors slid open to reveal a sterile med lab. She managed to sit down on the edge of a metal table.

Emmaline turned around to see Scott turning right instead of left, walking unsteadily to the cockpit.

"Like hell I'm letting you fly us," Logan said, blocking Scott's way. "We're sticking to auto-pilot."

Emmaline spent most of the short flight in the medical area of the jet, following Storm's instructions for Scott's care. His face was bloodied and had been scraped against the dirty brick wall. He retained consciousness through the flight, apologizing to Storm repeatedly for not fighting against Miss Scarlet though her mutation had clearly stopped him. Storm's primary instruction was to make sure Scott did not fall asleep.

Storm's injuries were spread more widely, with bruises scattering her entire body from the long fight. She helped Emmaline bind some of the deeper cuts on her legs, but told her that the rest would be patched back at the mansion.

By the time they landed, Emmaline was less worried about Scott and Storm than she had been at the beginning. Both seemed to be getting progressively better rather than worse. When they landed—on the lawn rather than in the bunker because none of them could land the plane well enough and the autopilot was not exact enough—several teachers came out with stretchers. It was past ten, so the grounds were dark. The lights from inside the mansion lit patches of the lawn, but most of it was in darkness. Despite their protests, they loaded Storm and Scott onto the stretchers and had Kurt teleport them immediately to the med lab.

Delia, Heather, and Allison stood back during the proceedings, but were not ignored. "New students?" one of the teachers asked Logan.

Logan nodded. "Emmaline," he said, addressing her. "I'll walk with you to take them to the Professor's office."

As they walked, Emmaline explained more about the school to the girls, though she felt she was not the best candidate for tour guide since she had only been there a few weeks. Logan remained quiet, walking stoically beside Emmaline under her shield. A faint blush overtook Emmaline's face every time she looked at him, mind full of images of their kiss.

The Professor was as calm as ever as he explained the school in better detail to the three rogue mutants. Heath er and Allison were eager while Delia was silent, taking in the words without expression. Logan and Emmaline stood farther back in the room. She had taken the shield from the girls at the Professor's request, doubtlessly so he could read their minds, but she had maintained it over herself and Logan.

As the Professor was wrapping up, Rogue stuck her head in the door. "You rang?" she asked the Professor, tapping her head.

He nodded. "Yes, thank you, Rogue. These are our new students, Heather, Allison, and Delia. Delia will be rooming with Kitty, and Heather and Allison will share the empty room on the third floor. Would you mind showing them the way?"

"No problem," Rogue said. She gestured for the girls to follow her with one gloved hand. "So what are your powers?" she asked them as they walked away.

"Logan, Emmaline, please take a seat," the Professor said, gesturing to the recently abandoned chairs. Emmaline sat first. Logan seemed ready to refuse, but then complied. "I know it's getting late, but I need to talk with you. What happened these last two days?" he asked them.

Logan gave a brief explanation of the events, mentioning the security of the YMCA, Tori White's attack, her drawings, and how they convinced the girls to join the school. Emmaline sat back, only interjecting when the Professor asked her specific questions.

"Since we have done all we can for Newark, you can remain here until Magneto's forces move again. If both Storm and Scott are too injured to return to the field, Logan, you will be in charge of putting together the team. But we can worry about that later. For now, please relax here. You've done a good job," the Professor told them.

By the time they finished debriefing the Professor, it was past eleven at night. Only a few hours ago they had been fighting the Brotherhood, and the calm of the school made Emmaline tired after the action. Emmaline and Logan went to the kitchen to eat before going to bed.

Drew was already in the kitchen. "I heard you were back!" he said, standing to greet Emmaline. "Jamie was already asleep, so I didn't wake him up."

Emmaline brought him into the shield with her and Logan and hugged him tightly. "I told you I'd be fine," she said when she let him go.

He frowned. "I hear Storm and Scott didn't fare so well," he said. Seeing Emmaline's surprised look, he said, "Gossip travels fast in a school, mutants or not."

Emmaline nodded. "We were in a fight," Emmaline admitted but before she could give any more details, the door to the kitchen opened.

"After the dining hall closes, we're allowed to come here any time for a snack," Kitty was saying. She had already walked through the door into the room, and the door had opened to reveal Rogue, Heather, Allison, and Delia. "Oh, hey guys," Kitty said to Logan, Emmaline, and Drew.

Emmaline took over the introductions. "Hello. Drew, this is Heather, Delia, and Allison. Girls, this is my brother Drew. He's your age." She used the term brother because it came the closest to describing their relationship to strangers.

Drew waved to them and turned back to Emmaline. "I just wanted to see for myself you were okay. I'll see you at breakfast," he said.

Emmaline let him out of the shield as he brushed by the group of girls and left the kitchen. Logan rapped on the edge of the shield. "Let me get to the fridge," he said, stepping forward.

Emmaline expanded the shield to encompass all the occupants and appliances in the kitchen, surprised at herself to realize she trusted everyone present. "Hey, Logan, go ahead and grab us a box of Cokes," Rogue said, sitting down at the small table. Logan grumbled something about not being a servant, but complied anyways.

Emmaline turned around one of the chairs at the counter to face the girls. "So how do you like the school?" she asked the three new girls.

"It's really nice," Heather said.

"Better now that we've seen some of the male population. If the whole school looks like Scott, Logan, and Drew then we've hit the jackpot," Allison said bluntly, grinning.

"Oh, they are," said Kitty.

Logan raised an eyebrow as he set the cans of Coke in the middle of their table. "I'm not available," he told them, casting a subtle glance over at Emmaline, who blushed.

"Did you mean my Drew?" Emmaline asked, hoping her blush wasn't too obvious. Had Logan meant he was unavailable to them because he was a teacher or because he was interested only in Emmaline? "You guys think he's cute?"

"Um, yeah," Heather said as though it should have been obvious. "Right, Delia?" she asked.

"I like blonde guys," Delia said, but didn't meet their eyes.

"Whatever his hair, Drew is adorable. Is he single?" Allison asked Emmaline. "Just for general knowledge," she added when Emmaline looked unsure.

Emmaline was a bit thrown off. She had never thought of Drew that way, but she could see the reason for their attraction. "He's definitely single," Emmaline told them.

"What's his power?" Delia asked.

Emmaline shrugged vaguely. "Maybe you should ask him sometime. That's a good conversation starter," she encouraged.

The girls continued gossiping about the boys of Xavier's School as Logan and Emmaline turned back to the counter where their food was sitting. Logan had made them both BLTs and a bag of chips. Emmaline smiled over at him, trying not to seem as nervous as she felt.

Emmaline ate delicately, feeling Logan's eyes on her. "I am so hungry," she admitted.

"Me too," he said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"You're healed from that poison, aren't you?" she asked him, suddenly worried. "It had you out longer than I would have expected."

"I'm fine now," he said. He lowered his voice. "That girl was lucky we were there."

Emmaline looked discreetly over her shoulder back at Delia, who was demonstrating her power to Rogue and Kitty by transforming a plate into a hat. "She was," Emmaline agreed. "Those mutants were terrible. We ran into a few like that when we were living on our own—that's how we met Drew, actually."

Emmaline was prepared to leave the story at that, but Logan seemed truly curious when he asked, "What happened?"

She cast a glance back at the girls and muttered, "Let's go somewhere else for story-time."

Logan nodded. They waved goodbye to the group of girls and started to walk down the hallways. Emmaline let Logan decide the turns they took as she began the story. "After the incident at my house, Jamie and I stuck together. I was already seventeen so I could get jobs and stuff for money. With my shield we were generally safe, but didn't have anywhere real we could stay. We had to move between hotels a lot, since we were minors. There are more job opportunities in cities, so we went to Boston about two years back. What we didn't realize was there are also more mutants in cities.

"We were walking back to our apartment one night after getting some groceries—I always made Jamie come with me everywhere, you know, to keep him safe—when we saw a kid being beat up in an alley. I found out later that Drew had tried to _convince_ the gang out of money, but his power doesn't work on other mutants so they turned on him."

Logan smiled. "Let me guess—you jumped in and shielded him."

"It took a bit of time to get to where I could loop him in without accidentally including the rest of them, but basically," Emmaline nodded.

"You can't just trust someone because they're getting hurt. For all you knew, he could have been a serial killer that they were trying to rid the streets of. Your shield can't protect you if you don't keep the bad guys outside of it," Logan said, sounding angry.

They started up the staircase together as Emmaline tried to come up with an answer that conveyed her motivation. "I'd seen stuff like that before. It was a city, after all. It was just this one instance I had to help. Normally I rank Jamie and me as more important, but Drew was looking so young. He, um, sort of reminded me of my little brother. My real little brother, the one that died in…," she trailed off. "Anyways, once I had him safe, we took a few detours, circled around, and made our way back to our hotel. He only stayed at first because I offered to fix him up, but then he decided he liked our little group. He was a definite help to us."

"You had a perfect team. Jamie was offensive, you were defensive, and Drew was able to stop most fights before they started," Logan said.

Emmaline nodded. "It was a good system," she said. "At least until we ran into Scott."

"One-Eye does have a way of ruining things," Logan agreed. They came to a stop outside of Emmaline's room. "You've got to actually sleep tonight," he said, changing the subject.

"I slept last night," she argued.

Logan snorted. "I'd believe that except I stubbed my toe on your shield around four in the morning," he told her. Emmaline blushed. "No one moved my chair," he said, gesturing. He was right—the plastic chair was still next to her door, a tribute to his nightly vigil.

Emmaline shook her head. "You need sleep also," she said. "I can handle another night napping."

His eyes took on a determined glint. "You're going to sleep," he told her.

"So are you," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm an adult—it's ridiculous that I need you to act like my security blanket."

"If I thought you'd actually sleep without me, I'd let you be," Logan said. "I talked to Dr. Reyes about you and she told me some of the risks that come with not sleeping. You're running on empty and I'm not going to let that continue, especially if you're going to continue being stubborn and sticking with this mission."

Emmaline sighed. "You know I can't just let you take care of me all the time. I'm supposed to be the one taking care of everyone." Suddenly, she was struck by an idea. "Why don't we sleep together?"

Logan raised his eyebrows. "What about taking it slow?" he asked.

Emmaline was sure her face was bright red when she realized what she had said. "I didn't mean… Not like _sleeping_ together, just… sleeping together. " She took a breath to calm down. "I can't sleep without you nearby, and you can't sleep while you're sitting outside just guarding me." When he didn't respond immediately, she said, "Actually, that was a crazy idea. You can just—"

Logan grinned finally. "No, it's a good idea," he told her. "As long as you're sure…"

Emmaline nodded. "We're just sleeping," she reminded him.

"Then I'll just go shower. I'll be back in fifteen. Go ahead and try to sleep." Emmaline let him out of her shield before going into her bedroom. It was generally clean, but she still scurried around, throwing used clothes into the closet. She took a short shower to get the sweat from the fight earlier off, got into her pajamas, and emerged from the bathroom.

She was surprised Logan wasn't already back, but when she checked the time she had taken less than ten minutes to clean her room and take the shower. Emmaline alternately stood by the door and sat on the edge of her bed. Finally, feeling she was overreacting, she connected the EEG and laid down on the edge of the bed. She let her breathing slow, though she was not ready to sleep alone in the room.

Just when she began to wonder if Logan was not coming back—an idea that inspired both worry and relief—the doorknob turned and she heard him enter the room. She kept her eyes closed, relaxing. Logan switched off the light and she heard him walk closer, though his footsteps were as quiet as usual.

"I still can't get through your shield," he said quietly, standing a few feet from the bed.

Emmaline glanced back at him and made out his form near her. She motioned for him to walk forward, and allowed him to pass through the shield. Logan sat down on top of the covers on the bed beside her, and spread out a quilt over himself that he had brought with him. The bed was a double, but Emmaline still worried if there was enough room for them both.

"On top of the covers?" Emmaline asked softly, not looking back at him. A small smile tugged at her lips at his uncharacteristic chivalry.

Emmaline could feel his deep chuckle in their close proximity. "Slow," he said, seeming to be reminding himself more than answering her question. "It's late. Get to sleep," he told her, "I'll wake you up if anything happens. I'm a light sleeper."

Emmaline nodded. She took a slow breath and tried to relax. Despite Logan's proximity, memories of fear and fire overwhelmed as they did every time she considered sleeping without her shield. Her heart rate picked up as she imagined waking to a charred body next to her and she made sure her shield was secure around them both.

"Are you all right?" Logan asked her softly, his voice the only noise in the room other than the beeping of the EEG.

"I just keep thinking about the fire…" she admitted and sighed.

"You're safe. Go to sleep, Emmaline," Logan said. After a moment, his arm draped over her waist, pulling her securely against him. She could feel the warmth of his body despite the layers of fabric between them. It was simultaneously thrilling and relaxing.

She closed her eyes again and focused on letting go. She subconsciously fell in rhythm with Logan's steady breathing and slipped into a deep sleep.

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	15. Chapter 15

It was quickly determined that Scott was too injured to continue with the mission. The concussion he had received from Miss Scarlet was severe despite his protestation s that he was fine. Storm was more easily patched up, though her injuries had seemed more substantial to Emmaline. It seemed that all of her injured had been on less vulnerable areas than Scott's had been.

With Scott out of commission, Storm was the team leader. The Professor asked her to pick another person for the team, but she had decided to stick with the remaining three. As she had told the Professor, they had all they needed: a diplomat, a fighter, and a defender. The Professor had conceded the point and proceeded to gather the information for their next location.

While the Professor was working inside Cerebro, Emmaline caught up with the lives of Jamie and Drew. Jamie was getting more comfortable in Mansion, and had made several good friends. He was working with one of the teachers to control his electricity power, and had discovered it was even more powerful than he had thought. The progress was going slowly but steadily, but the Professor had assured Jamie that Storm would be his tutor once she returned for good from the mission.

Jamie had not been able to practice it much when he and Emmaline were on their own because Emmaline was reluctant to let him out of her shield and they both would have been electrocuted if he had practiced inside the shield.

They were at the Mansion for two days waiting for Storm was recuperating from the fight before the Professor had a concrete idea as to where the mutant forces were moving towards. The Professor had discovered a group of Brotherhood attacks in Maryland's capitol, Annapolis. He gathered Emmaline, Storm, and Logan in a small conference room to discuss their plan.

"I find myself unable to predict Magneto's objective," the Professor said, looking over a map littered with push-pins. His wise eyes were troubled, which disturbed Emmaline.

"No matter his goal, we have to stop him before he kills anyone else," Logan said. He chewed a cigar irritably, unlit because the Professor had apparently banned him from smoking in the school. Emmaline knew that for Logan to actually listen to the order meant it had been repeated dozens of times.

Storm frowned. "That's what I don't get. Magneto has never been this…_brutal_ before. If he wants people to join his cause, why is he alienating them by threatening to kill them?"

The Professor nodded. "There is something I am missing," he mused, looking at the map as though the answers to the universe were hidden somewhere in the poster.

The doorbell of the mansion rang. It was set up to ring in both the basement and main room of the school so the Professor would be immediately notified. The Professor paused, eyes distant, and then frowned. "I'm not detecting a presence at the door," he said, shrugging slightly. "I need you to attempt to cut off Magneto's forces before he reaches the next—" The doorbell rang again. "Logan, would you please check that?" the Professor asked.

Logan nodded. Emmaline let him out of her shield so he could leave the room. She pulled the shield close—neither the Professor nor Storm would let her shield them, though it was almost a physical pain for her to have someone she liked out in the open.

"There are some things you need to make sure the groups have," the Professor said, turning from the map to look at Storm and Emmaline. "First, though many mutants are notorious loners, a group system needs to be set up. For everyone's safety, no one can travel anywhere alone. As you saw with young Miss Delia Thompson, Magneto has been targeting easy victims."

Storm nodded. "If at all possible I will make sure those in the safe houses will remain there. Perhaps we should send another televised message to tell the mutants who would not gather that they should find a smaller group to move around with."

"I will contact Hank," the Professor said. "Perhaps after the attacks in Newark mutants will start taking this threat seriously."

"I know I do," Storm said, rubbing her bandaged shoulder ruefully.

"I contacted Miss Victoria White, the librarian who is one of the only attack survivors so far. She was willing to submit her drawings of her attackers to the press, and gave detailed descriptions. She has clearly been downplaying the benefits of her powers. I am currently trying to convince her to join the team, but she is still showing reluctance," the Professor continued.

Emmaline smiled, "She would be a good teacher here. No one would get by with plagiarism, at least."

Storm chuckled. "I agree. You should probably show her some of the old documents we have stored down here. That would be worth more to her than any offer of money or honor."

The Professor nodded. "And hopefully we can prevent any others from suffering an attack like she did. That's why your mission is so important. She was lucky to survive." He sighed and glanced back at the map on the wall. He turned back to Emmaline and Storm. "Also, there need to be a pair of guards at every entrance. It would be a great shame to go through the trouble of gathering everyone in a safe house just to let Magneto walk through the front door."

"Speaking of," said a voice from the doorway, "it was very kind of you to send Wolverine up to retrieve me."

Logan floated through the door, bound in place by an unseen force. He was followed by a dignified older man, dressed in a simple button down shirt and dark slacks. His normal appearance was off-set by a strange helmet covering his head.

"Eric?" the Professor said, eyes widening.

Storm stood up, lightning crackling at her fingertips and eyes misting over into white. "Speak of the devil," she said.

"My dear Storm, you never seem to take notice of your location. This room—this whole basement—is metal. If you try to electrocute me, you will also hit everyone in this room. Please sit down," the man said.

Emmaline looked at him uncertainly. He didn't seem dangerous, but from Storm and the Professor's reactions she did not trust him. She nudged her shield closer to Storm, but stopped herself from shielding the team leader.

Logan growled, "Let me down, and we'll see how tough you are." He was still hovering, jaw clenched.

Hoping he was not being held in place by an invisible mutant who would now have access to her, she quickly looped Logan into her shield. He fell to the ground immediately, whatever had been holding him above the ground gone. He stood up and took several steps back from the intruder, placing himself firmly in front of Emmaline.

When Emmaline looked away from Logan, the man, Eric, was watching her over Logan's shoulder in a frightening mix of surprise and hunger. "Interesting," he said softly.

"Why are you here?" the Professor asked, distracting him.

"I just came by to put an end to the high profile slandering. I'm starting to draw stares in the store now," the intruder said calmly. His voice was consistently humored, as though nothing any of the X-Men said did anything but amuse him.

"What are you talking about?" Storm snapped.

"I'm talking about the mutant army I am supposedly leading," the man said.

Finally, the helmet he was wearing made sense to Emmaline. _This_ was Magneto. This old man who strolled into the mansion as though he owned it, was their ultimate enemy. She shot a worried look to Logan, who glared at her and gestured to stop her from speaking or drawing more attention to herself.

"Has there been any sign I was involved? Or did you just assume any violent mutant group was surely led by me?" Magneto continued.

The Professor's brow furrowed. Storm did not hesitate. "Of course we assume you're behind it. You _are_ behind it! The mutants who managed to escape perfectly described several members of your old team—"

"Has it not occurred to you that they are acting on their own? Though most were pawns, a few had both the power and brains to make their own operation," Magneto pointed out. Storm began to argue, but Magneto spoke over her. "Have I ever been this sloppy? They have been leaving traces everywhere. And 'join or die'? Melodrama is not a flaw of mine."

Storm snorted loudly but Logan didn't bother trying to hide his laughter at the last statement. "I'm pretty sure it is," he contradicted.

The Professor did not laugh. "You have no connection to the current mutant violence?" he said. His voice lacked the accusing quality Storm's had held. He seemed to be seriously considering the notion.

"Or he is and he's just in here to throw us off his trail," Storm said, arms crossed.

Magneto sighed. "Storm, your logic is failing you again."

She bristled, but the Professor quieted her with a raised hand. "Why are you here? _Here_, not holding a press conference."

"Because that would be _melodramatic_," Storm muttered.

Magneto ignored her. "I assumed you would need to alter your strategy immediately."

"You realize helping us will hurt them, of course," the Professor said.

Magneto nodded. Emmaline was amazed at the casualness he exuded standing in the same room as his ex-enemies. "For several months, I was one of the humans… I'm no longer convinced of the logic of their extermination."

The Professor looked over Magneto contemplatively for a long moment. Finally, he said, "Take a seat."

"This is crazy," Logan said, still standing between Emmaline and Magneto despite the shield covering them both. "Think about this. Maybe he's telling the truth… but what if he's not."

"I agree with Logan," Storm said.

"Then I suppose it's good for me that Charles is in charge," Magneto said, approaching the table. Logan moved to forcibly stop Magneto from approaching, but he bumped into the side of Emmaline's shield. Magneto raised his eyebrows at Logan, a condescending smile tugging at his lips, and then looked at Emmaline. He sat down as close to Emmaline as he could get with her shield covering the two seats next to her. "_Very_ interesting." He looked from Emmaline to Logan and back again. "What's your name, my dear?"

"Don't tell him," Logan snapped.

Emmaline raised her eyebrows at Logan and then turned back to Magneto. "Emmaline."

"Eric," the Professor said, drawing away Magneto's interest. "Why are you helping us?"

"Is it so hard to accept that I've had a change of heart?"

"I'm not saying you're not trying to help us. I'm simply looking for the ulterior motive."

"That is the answer to the one question you have not yet asked me. I am not leading this new army…but I know who is." He paused.

"Well? Who is it?" Logan asked.

"Someone who once betrayed me. Someone who has been able to stay anonymous among the attacks because no one has seen her true face. Someone who sent her new minions to kill me, believing I had not regained my powers."

"Mystique," the Professor breathed.

Though Magneto had come to the mansion to help the X-Men alter their plans to cope with Mystique as the leader instead of Magneto, their original plan was not detailed enough to need changing. No matter who was leading the attacks, the X-Men needed to intercept them and save as many mutants as possible.

Despite the fierce protests of Storm and Logan, the Professor decided that Magneto would join the team to replace the injured Scott. The Professor was going to remain at the mansion, checking Cerebro for any signs of patterns in the attacks. The X-Men decided to leave immediately.

Emmaline decided to say her goodbyes with time to spare because she did not want to be late for their departure time again. An hour before they were scheduled to leave, she asked Jamie and Drew to talk with her in the kitchen. Both were sad to see her go again. Despite their shallow original first impression of Drew, it seemed Allison, Heather, and Delia had discovered Drew also had a personality. Emmaline had heard them playing Guitar Hero on countless occasions in the past few days.

Emmaline was relieved that Drew had made friends, though she realized it made her sound like an obsessive mother. Before she knew he had only stayed there for her, but now he seemed to enjoy the mansion.

"We'll be back. We might even bring more new students. There were a surprising amount of people who did not realize the mansion was open to everyone… like us. Drew, I'm going to be fine," Emmaline told Drew, reading past his impassive face to his concern. "I've got my shield to protect me. Has that ever let me down?"

Drew groaned. "Yes! If you were invincible, we never would have come to this school in the first place, remember?" He sighed and shook his head, stopping his overreaction. "Just don't trust everyone you meet."

"My motto is don't trust _any_one you meet," Delia added, grinning at Emmaline.

Emmaline nodded. "I'll be careful," she promised. "I've got to talk to the Professor before we leave. Dr. Reyes wanted me to tell him that she still wants my sleep schedule taken into consideration on these missions." She rolled her eyes to show what she thought of the idea.

Delia smirked. "Just don't tell him," she told Emmaline. "It's not like he'll find out."

"Yeah, unless Dr. Reyes follows up with him. I think it's better safe than sorry," Emmaline reminded her.

"We noticed," Allison said with a laugh, gesturing at Emmaline's shield.

Emmaline laughed and waved goodbye. "I'll see you all soon," she told them.

Other than Drew, Jamie, and the three girls, the rest of the school was in the dining hall eating lunch so Emmaline was able to walk through the halls in her X-Men uniform without being embarrassed by stares. Though she understood the logic of having a uniform, she still wasn't comfortable being under the scrutiny it invited.

Emmaline paused outside the Professor's door, hearing that he was already talking to someone. Rather than interrupting him, she waited outside the door. She hadn't been listening to the conversation when she suddenly heard her name. Pushing away her guilt about eavesdropping, she leaned closer to the door.

"…for Emmaline? It might be better if you stayed away from her," the Professor was saying.

Logan responded darkly, "What are you saying, Wheels?"

"I'm saying the thoughts you've been having recently make me think it would be better for you to keep your distance from Emmaline for a while," the Professor said calmly.

"Then maybe you should stay out of my goddamned head," Logan snapped.

"Your mind is extremely interesting," the Professor said, talking calmly as though he hadn't heard the anger in Logan's voice. "It's like listening to two people, sometimes with conflicting desires, correct? Normally it's you in charge, with Wolverine as an undertone. He gives suggestions but you make your own decisions. Decisions you've thought through, not just impulses." Emmaline leaned even closer to the door. She only vaguely understood the nature of Logan's feral mutation, and the Professor's insight was fascinating.

"Your point?" Logan asked, clearly short-tempered. Emmaline could imagine the look in his eyes and was impressed that the Professor maintained his steady tone of voice.

"Who is doing the thinking in regards to Emmaline?" the Professor asked. Logan didn't reply. "Wolverine has named himself her protector… and perhaps something more? Your human side wants her too. But unlike Wolverine, _you_ realize that you're not the best thing for her."

"Why are we talking about this? Apparently we both know exactly what's going on in my head," Logan said. "Though I've told you to keep your big nose out of my business," he added with an annoyed growl.

"I've been insuring Emmaline has been sleeping because as a resident of this school and a member of the X-Men, her health is my concern. Her emotional health is part of that too. She's been in a protective bubble for her whole life—literally—and you decidedly have not. You have emotional baggage that she shouldn't have to deal with. Not to mention your age difference," the Professor said.

Emmaline frowned as she listened. The Professor was clearly worried for her. However, she remembered the night she heard Logan and Scott arguing—another instance of guilt-inducing eavesdropping—and Logan had made the same argument against Scott having a relationship with Emmaline. It was obvious to Emmaline that Logan cared for her well-being as much as or more than the Professor.

"I can remember less of my life than how long she's been alive," Logan pointed out. "She's actually older than me in that sense."

"True, but you're leaving out important information. You were an adult all of those years. Emmaline is only twenty-three years old. For all we know, you could be one hundred." Logan didn't answer, but whatever his expression was it caused the Professor to continue, "I'm just telling you to think this through. If you care about her as much as it seems you do, you'll do what's best for her, not for you."

Logan's voice was soft. "If she doesn't want me, I won't push it. I would never hurt her."His voice rose in volume. "But so far, she's not running away screaming. You clearly don't respect her ability to make her own decisions, but I credit her at least that. Oh, and stay out of my head if you don't like what you hear!" His voice was increasingly closer than it had been before.

Before Emmaline could find somewhere to hide, the door swung open to reveal an angry Logan. When he saw her, he froze. Guilt, surprise, and concern swept over his face before being overtaken by anger. He shoved the door the rest of the way open so the Professor could see Emmaline. "What the hell did you do, call her here so she could hear what I was thinking? Here I was believing you were the only one who excessively eavesdropped around here."

The Professor held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "I can't sense her when she's in her shield," he reminded Logan. "I was also unaware she was outside."

Emmaline blushed and said to the Professor, "I was just… Dr. Reyes told me to talk to you before I left…" Her voice trailed off. She could feel the anger radiating off Logan beside her and avoided his gaze. Like her, he was already in his uniform. Though the leather hid his normally bare muscles, it did nothing to disguise his powerful bulk.

"What was Dr. Reyes's message?" the Professor asked her. "Logan, if you'd please…"

Logan shut the door, but stayed inside the room with her and the Professor. At the Professor's raised eyebrow, he said, "She heard _our_ conversation."

Emmaline spoke quickly, eager to get out of the room. "She wanted me to remind you about me sleeping. I told her I'd be fine, but she insisted I tell you that if the mission interferes with my sleep that she would force me to come back here. I don't agree with her. I can handle it." When she talked about sleeping she could think only of the night before how it felt to be wrapped safe in Logan's arms and she studiously avoided his gaze. "Dr. Reyes shouldn't be in charge of my decisions," she added.

"Do you remember Scott insisting yesterday that he is well enough to join this mission?" the Professor asked her, seemingly off-topic.

"Yes," Emmaline said cautiously.

"But in his case—and yours—I am following Dr. Reyes's recommendation. I've already told Storm to make sure you get your sleep, and she will report back to Dr. Reyes on your condition." He looked between Logan and Emmaline before meeting her eyes. "I can't tell you who you can have a relationship with, but—"

"Then don't," Emmaline said firmly. "Is that all?"

The Professor sighed and nodded. "Good luck," he told them.

Logan maintained silence as they left the Professor's office. It was an ominous quiet, and Emmaline had prepared herself for his anger once they were out of earshot. When Logan took a breath to begin talking, Emmaline looked down and prepared for a scolding. "He's such a meddling idiot," Logan snarled.

Emmaline blinked. "You're mad at the _Professor_?" she asked, surprised.

"Of course I am. I thought you listened to that conversation," Logan said, voice slipping into a growl.

"So you're not mad at me?" Emmaline affirmed, looking over at him.

He scoffed. "Like I wouldn't have listened if it had been you in there," he said, shrugging. Then he gave a frustrated sigh. "The worst part is that he was right." Not understanding, Emmaline waited for Logan to continue. "I…I'm not the best person for you. Actually, I'm probably the worst person for you."

"What do you mean?" Emmaline asked softly. She was relieved the students seemed to all still be at lunch—she didn't want their conversation interrupted or overheard.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," he said ambiguously. He changed the subject back to her. "Have you ever even had a boyfriend?" he said.

"Yes, I have," Emmaline said. "I dated a few guys in high school."

"That was what, six years ago? Jesus, Emmaline," he said, running his hands through his hair.

"What happened to you thinking I could make my own decisions?" Emmaline snapped, embarrassed by the conversation. "You don't think I've thought about this? I know you've seen more of the world. You're older, more experienced, and have a lot of options. I also know that you wouldn't hurt me… right?"

"Not if I can help it," Logan agreed. "But have you even considered some of these other guys? Like Piotr or Bobby." Though he was pushing her away from him, he spoke the names of his perceived competition like they were curse words. "Are you sure you don't just like me because I'm the first guy to make moves on you?" His voice was dejected, like he had already convinced himself that was the real reason.

"Yes, I'm sure!" Emmaline said as they entered the jet hangar. "You really think I would let just anyone sleep with me?"

Storm looked up from where she was sitting by the jet, startled. "You _what?"_ she asked, standing up and glowering. "Logan, if you touched her I am going to kick your metal ass from—"

"Storm, we didn't sleep together," Emmaline said, cutting her off and instinctively including Logan in her shield. "Not like that."

Logan rolled his eyes at Storm. "Can we have some privacy?" he growled, motioning for her to get on the jet.

Storm frowned. "I'll be inside the jet," she told Emmaline before leaving.

Emmaline and Logan faced each other in the garage, waiting for the other to make a move. Emmaline spoke first. "This honestly isn't about your timing," she assured him. "This is about _you._ I like you. But before we go any farther, I'd like to know more about you. I don't like all these hints everyone keeps dropping."

Logan appraised her. She forced herself not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze. "I get the feeling eavesdropping on the Professor and me gave you more questions than answers," he said.

Emmaline nodded. "But you _will_ tell me?" she asked.

"I will," he promised. He stepped closer to her, and leaned towards her…

There was a loud honk from the jet, and they looked up to see Storm glaring down at them. She shook her head at Logan and pointed to her wrist indicating the time, though Emmaline knew they weren't on a tight schedule. Logan grinned up at the weather mutant and made a big show of taking a step back from Emmaline. "We'll continue this late, but for now we need to get on the jet before Storm comes out here and electrocutes me. I can heal from it, but having a metal skeleton makes it an experience I'd rather not repeat."

Emmaline smiled back at him. "I can imagine. I'm just wondering which idiot decided to add a horn to the jet."

A voice sounded behind them. "I believe that was Charles, actually. I too thought it was an unusual addition." Emmaline turned to see Magneto. He was no longer dressed in the civilian clothes Emmaline had seen him wearing earlier. His uniform was solid black with a red and black cape that matched his unusual helmet.

Emmaline tightened the shield around herself and Logan, watching him cautiously. The Professor might have trusted him enough to send him on the mission with them, but Emmaline was more inclined to trust Logan and Storm about him. Better safe than sorry.

Magneto narrowed his eyes, focusing on the faint outline of her shield in the air. While it was clear, the sphere reflected hints of the lights around her. "Some sort of mental force field," he mused.

"Back off, bub," Logan snarled.

Magneto held out his gloved hands in universal sign for peace. "I'm not about to attack her just to see if I can get through it," he said.

Emmaline slanted a glance sideways at Logan, remembering the first time they met. She tried not to laugh at Logan's hypocrisy, deciding to take his protectiveness as the gift it was. "It's okay, Logan," she said softly. "Let's get on the jet before Storm goes insane."

"I don't care what the Professor says," Logan told Magneto, "I still don't trust you."

"You wouldn't be the talented warrior you are if you trusted everyone you met," Magneto conceded.

Logan continued to glare at the man for a moment more before following Emmaline into the jet, keeping himself between her and Magneto at all times.

_**I really appreciate reviews!**_


	16. Chapter 16

The jet ride to Annapolis was largely uneventful. Magneto sat in the co-pilot's seat next to Storm. Though Storm was not eager to have Magneto so close to the controls, he was more qualified to fly than Logan or Emmaline and Logan liked being able to keep an eye on him.

Logan was tense throughout the flight, though Emmaline could not tell whether it was from Magneto's presence or his predominant fear of flying. She kept him within her shield throughout the flight. Though it did little to reassure him, it made her feel more secure.

When she tried to talk to him, his answers with clipped, eyes rarely leaving Magneto. Eventually, Emmaline gave up and settled for looking out the window.

The mutant base was similar to the one in Newark, though it was in a church instead of a YMCA. Sleeping bags were strewn all over the floor, and all the pews had been pushed aside and used to store backpacks and small suitcases.

A priest was attempting to control a group of mutant children in one corner of the church, looking decidedly impatient despite his profession.

When the X-Men entered (after being checked through a vigilant security guard), the mutants closest to them got quiet and looked at them with hope and dread in their eyes. It worried Emmaline that their hopes were resting on her shoulders, shoulders that had been incapable of saving even her own family, much less all of these people.

Logan stayed close to Emmaline's side as a priest gave the group a tour of the building. His claws slid out when startled, which happened far more often now than it had before Magneto's arrival.

When she heard the distinctive noise of his claws unsheathing when a child's bouncy ball hit the edge of her shield, she turned to him. "Logan, relax."

He raised his eyebrows. "Just being cautious," he said finally.

"Even if we weren't both inside my shield, do you really think anyone around here would risk attacking _you_?" Emmaline reasoned.

"It's not me I'm worried about, darling."

Emmaline couldn't decide whether to be flattered or annoyed, so she turned her attention back to the tour and ignored Logan's claws from then on.

Magneto's presence caused a mixed reaction in the refugee mutants. Some were afraid that the man originally accused of organizing the attacks was in their midst while others were just grateful to have such a powerful mutant on their side.

Emmaline, having not watched the news about Magneto often, was constantly impressed by his powers. He casually reshaped a pile of spare metal left over from recent innovations into a gate in front of the side entrance of the church, twisting and levitating huge amounts of metal without seeming the slightest bit exhausted. The limits of her own abilities became obvious to her when the mutant easily manipulated multiple metals at once. However, she had caught him looking at her shield often enough, however, to think that the respect was mutual. Whenever his eyes drifted to the shield, Logan was ready with a glare and a growl, though Magneto did not seem the slightest bit intimidated.

Emmaline was impressed by the wide-spread readiness mutants had been showing in Annapolis. The disappearance rates were not zero, but they were far less than they had been in the cities originally targeted. Even so, the team decided to search the city for more mutants to bring into safety.

Storm pulled Emmaline aside before they set off for the day while Logan reluctantly helped Magneto discuss defenses of the church. "Emmaline, I just wanted to mention that even though Magneto isn't the most trust-worthy mutant, he is a part of this team now."

Emmaline nodded, uncertain where the conversation was headed.

"If we get into a situation that I deem to dangerous for us to handle, I'll need you to shield all of us. Including Magneto. Now, I know you won't want him in your shield, and I know Logan doesn't either," she continued over Emmaline's initial protests, "but we have to trust that the Professor knew what he was doing when he let him join our team."

Emmaline smiled uneasily. "I understand, though I'm not so sure Logan will."

"Let me take care of Logan if—well, when a confrontation arises," Storm said.

They set off on foot to the location of the nearest rogue mutant that the Professor detected using Cerebro. Magneto walked alongside Storm, though she tried to stay in front of him to show her status as team leader, and Logan and Emmaline walked behind them inside her shield.

After mere minutes of walking in the heat and drawing stares from the general public, Magneto stopped walking and spoke up. "I was wondering, Storm, if you were planning on having us _walk_ around the city until we stumble upon these rogue mutants we're searching out?"

Storm and the others stopped as well. "The jet is not compatible to tracking down mutants in a small area like this and I'm not going to have the X-Men pile into a taxi," Storm said shortly.

"I have a faster and more sophisticated way than a taxi," Magneto said, rising suddenly several feet in the air.

A small sphere of metal hovered in front of his face before flattening into a thin circle and sliding under Storm's feet. She was also lifted into the air. Though at first she was off-balance, she launched herself from the hovering sheet of metal and hovered in the air with her own powers. "So half the team can fly," Storm said, shrugging as she hovered at eye level with Magneto. "We have to all stay together."

Rather than answering Magneto sent the sheet of metal over towards Emmaline and Logan but came short when the metal bumped into her shield and went no further. Frowning, he sent the metal low and slid it across the sidewalk into the base of Emmaline's shield, but it was halted again.

Bemused, he turned back to Storm. "All of your team _can_ fly, if they so choose."

Logan narrowed his eyes and growled, "And we choose not to."

Storm, however, looked contemplative. "Well…"

"Storm!" Logan argued.

"Logan, what's going to happen in mid-air? If he drops you, Emmaline can shield and you'll survive either way. It will make this whole mission a lot easier," she said, landing on the sidewalk beside them.

Emmaline looked between Logan and Magneto. As hesitant was she was to let her shield down around someone Logan and Storm so clearly distrusted, she had to admit it made sense. Besides, if they kept the same system as last time she would be shielding Magneto by the end of the day anyways.

"No," Logan insisted.

"The longer we take to find these people, the longer the other side has to get them first," Storm pointed out. "I don't like seeing names drop off my list of mutants the Professor can sense and I'd rather not have it happen today because you're being stubborn."

Emmaline turned to Logan. "Storm's right and you know it," she said. "Let's do it."

Logan glared at her and Storm, and then growled, "If you die, I'm still saying that I told you so."

"You can have it written on my headstone," Emmaline said as she took a steadying breath and dropped her shield.

She had only a few seconds of panic before the sheet of metal Magneto had been manipulating slid under her feet and lifted her steadily into the air. She stood very still, thrown off by the height. And she had thought airplanes were bad. Logan was lifted without the steadying force under his feet, also looking unhappy.

Magneto turned his attention to Storm. "We're following you," he said, gesturing for her to lead the way. When Storm began to fly forward, Emmaline and Logan were dragged behind Magneto.

Though at first the experience was unsettling, Emmaline eventually began to enjoy the wind in her hair and the adrenaline from the height. Magneto manipulated the metal so smoothly that Emmaline never felt a moment of unsteadiness.

Seeing the people and buildings pass below her, unaware of her presence above her made her imagine what it would be like if flight was her mutation instead of her shield. Flying was freeing and relaxing when she wasn't trapped inside an airplane. She glanced over at Logan to see if he was enjoying it as well. He wasn't. His claws were out and ready and he crouched tensely on the flying sheet of metal as though prepared any second.

Her experience being flown by Magneto gave her the confidence later in the day to include him in her shield during an attack. They were at a warehouse similar to the one they had found the knife-thrower gang in while they were in Newark. Unlike there, however, the mutants approached them when they entered the warehouse. There were five of them, all muscular with obvious mutant abnormalities. Unfortunately, like in Newark, the group of mutants here was not pleased to see the X-Men, especially with their newest teammate.

"Hey, that's Magneto!" said one, conjuring a fireball in his hand.

Storm spoke calmly despite the clear animosity. "Maybe you have not seen the news recently. Magneto was not behind those attacks. He is working with the X-Men now to ensure the safety to mutants, such as yourselves, who did not choose to evacuate to a safe house."

"She don't trust him," said another, eyes glowing green. "I can smell it. The hairy one doesn't believe what she's saying."

"I say we take them all out just in case," said the first, throwing the fireball like a baseball, sending it rocketing towards Magneto.

Emmaline reacted instinctively, shielding the team. The fireball was absorbed into her shield and disappeared. Unlike her other teammates, who were annoyed by the perceived unneeded protection and jumped forward towards the other mutants, Magneto smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you," he said.

"Let me out, Em," Logan said, glaring at the mutants.

Storm, now calmed down, said, "No, Logan, they clearly don't want our help. Let's move out. Emmaline, keep the shield up until we're out of range."

Emmaline nodded. They backed out of the warehouse, not turning their backs despite their trust in the shield.

Thankfully, the X-Men met fewer violent mutants in Annapolis than they expected. Silence greeted them at almost every location. However, the quiet only fed Emmaline's growing nervousness. The mutant could be anywhere, ready to do anything, and she might not know to shield until too late.

Flying cut hours from their planned day, so they were already at their fifteenth location by noon. It was, to Emmaline's surprise, a residential home.

Most mutants with a stable home were at the safe house because of general familial protectiveness. Storm's GPS showed two mutants at the address, increasing Emmaline's curiosity. Maybe the two mutants were like her, Jamie, and Drew, only crashing at the house.

After a moment of deliberation, Storm decided the best course of action would be to knock on the door.

"Just a second!" called someone from inside. "Rose, can you grab that?"

There were two steps of footsteps running towards the door. The X-Men braced themselves.

A tall teenage boy opened the door, a teenage girl directly behind him. "Jacob," whined the girl. "Mom told me to get it!"

"Well, I got it first," said Jacob. "Hello," he said finally to the X-Men. Then he got a real look at them and grew nervous. Emmaline understood completely. They cut intimidating figures in the uniforms. "Uh, Mom?" Jacob called over his shoulder. "I think it's for you."

"Actually," said Storm, consulting her GPS again. "We're here to talk to you two. Rose and Jacob?" They nodded together. "Have you heard about the threat to mutants?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, but…"

"We're not mutants," interjected Jacob, shooting a glare at his sister. Rose nodded, eyes shifting away.

Their mother approached from behind them. "Who—Oh my. What are you doing here?"

"We're here about the threat to mutants," Storm said. Rose and Jacob began slowly shaking their heads, looking at Storm with desperate eyes.

"Oh, yeah, I've been watching about it on the news. Not to be rude, but why are you here?" their mother asked.

"We wanted to ask if you've seen any strange people around the neighborhood. We're trying to follow the group's trail," Magneto said smoothly.

"Oh, well, no, I haven't noticed anything. Have you two?"

"Uh uh," said Jacob.

"Nope," said Rose at the same time.

"Thank you for your time," Magneto said, bowing his head slightly.

"But—" Storm began, but Magneto cut her off by saying, "Please report any unusual activities to the local authorities. Enjoy the rest of your day."

The woman nodded and closed the door. As the door closed, Emmaline caught one last glimpse of the two teenagers' tense expressions. Storm turned angrily to Magneto. "What was that about?" she snapped. "Those children are targets."

Magneto replied, "The boy is a telepath. He asked us to meet them behind the house in five minutes."

The X-Men stayed out of sight of the windows until they saw the two figures emerge from the house. Rose had a small white dog on a leash that immediately started yapping at the mutants.

"Shut up, Princess!" Rose snapped, tugging on the leash.

Once they reached Emmaline, Jacob beckoned for the X-Men to follow them into the woods. When they were out of range of the house, Rose turned to Magneto and said, "Well?"

Storm cleared her throat, obviously trying to take back her leadership of the group. "So I assume you both are aware of the recent danger," she said. "We're offering protection to any mutants who need it. There's a safe house about a half hour away from here."

"We can't go into hiding or whatever just because you guys show up." Jacob nudged her with his elbow. "Don't shove me!"

Jacob rolled his eyes at his sister, and then looked over the X-Men briefly. He did a double-take, staring at Emmaline. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes, looking at her intensely.

Emmaline raised her eyebrows at him, and he blushed. "Sorry, it's just… You're different. I can't…" He trailed off, tapping his head meaningfully.

Emmaline smiled and knocked a fist against her shield. "My mutation." She could tell Magneto was looking at her because Logan growled next to her, but she ignored them both. "Your powers can't get in here."

"I've never met anyone I couldn't hear. Not for three years," he said, slightly awed.

Rose looked at Emmaline curiously. "What about like, physical powers?" she asked innocently.

"Nope, nothing," Emmaline said, their age putting her at ease. Their sibling banter reminded her of Jamie and Drew, both back at the mansion.

Rose waved a slender hand and Emmaline jumped slightly when the branch of a nearby tree suddenly collided with her shield.

"Hey, watch it, kid," Logan snapped.

Rose shrugged, not intimidated in the slightest. "Hm, I guess not."

"Rose, you can't just attack people," Jacob said firmly.

"She's the one who said nothing could get in," Rose argued back."

"The safe house…?" Storm prompted.

"Oh, our mom doesn't know about…you know. She gets a little freaky about it, so we decided to keep it a secret." He cocked his head slightly and looked at Storm. "No they're not. Hard to control, I mean."

"Either you're not in control and can't stop yourself from reading our thoughts, or you're just rude and can't stop yourself from reading our thoughts," Logan said gruffly.

At this, the boy blushed. "I'm not trying to—"

"Exactly," Storm interrupted. "You both should be at Xavier's, not out here in the middle of the danger."

Jacob turned to Rose, eyebrows raised. Emmaline assumed he was communicating telepathically. The idea of telepathy unnerved her slightly, but she tried not to show it.

"What will we tell Mom?" Rose asked quietly.

Jacob frowned at this. "No. We can't just tell her the truth."

"We would support you," Storm said. "If your mother accepts your powers, then I'm sure she will decide she wants you to be safe. If she doesn't accept you, there's always a home for you at Xavier's Institute. You could shape your powers in a safe environment."

"You're old enough to do what needs to be done," Magneto said calmly.

Jacob analyzed him, and then nodded. "All right. We'll tell her."

Storm looked surprised by the sudden decision, but went along with it. "We can accompany you inside if you'd—"

"No. We've got to do this," Jacob said.

Emmaline could tell Storm wanted to protest, but instead she conceded. "If you're not out here in a half hour, we'll come in for you."

Jacob nodded and led his increasingly nervous looking sister back into their home. Once they were gone, Storm turned to Magneto. "What did you say?"

"Hm?" he questioned innocently.

"You must have thought something at him to make him change his mind," Storm said. "I wasn't sure we'd be able to figure out a way to take them to safety until you stepped in."

Since Storm did not sound accusatory, Magneto said, "I simply thought that as a telepath, he would be able to predict his mother's reaction reasonably accurately. If he thought she could not accept them, it would be better to be away than to live every day knowing your mother could not accept you."

Storm nodded and the X-Men leaned against various trees to wait. They waited less than ten minutes for the teenagers to reemerge. Emmaline could tell immediately that the revelation had not gone well. Jacob's shoulders were shaking and Rose looked forward blankly, eyes open but unseeing.

The X-Men stepped from the trees to greet them. "What happened?" Storm asked gently.

"I barely got the words out of my mouth before she started thinking about how she was a failure of a mother and how to get rid of us," Jacob said quietly. "She called us freaks."

"She didn't actually say anything," Rose interrupted. "She just looked like she was about to faint. We ran upstairs, grabbed our stuff, and left. Can we come back later to get everything else?" Her solemn eyes found Storm.

"Of course. We'll bring the jet by later to retrieve your things," Storm said kindly.

Rose nodded vaguely, eyes distant again.

"Emmaline, we can't spare the time to take them back to the church before we finish for the day. Can you watch over them for the rest of the day?" Storm asked.

"Of course," Emmaline said, feeling far less confident about it than her steady voice suggested. She was uncomfortable enough with the Professor trying to read her mind, much less a kid she knew nothing about. Not only that, but she would have to look after the two teens while also keeping an eye on the rogue mutants they would be visiting during the say.

"All right," Storm said, smiling. "Let's go."

_Sorry for the ridiculously long wait. Please review!_


	17. Chapter 17

The Russell siblings were both extremely excited to fly. Magneto curved the edges of the metal plates they stood on to give them more security so many feet above the ground. Emmaline saw Logan eyeing the safer design, but he didn't ask Magneto for the same.

"I can see all the way to Ryan's house!" Jacob exclaimed once they cleared the trees around their backyard. Their mother watched from the window, the frown on her face visible even as they rose through the air, and she turned away from the window before they were out of sight. Emmaline bit her lip and looked forward again.

She had discovered her own powers the night her family had died in the fire. Now that she was around so many other mutants, she wondered how her parents would have reacted to her abilities. Having a daughter that walked around in a generally clear bubble was certainly not the most extreme they could have had, but would they have had anti-mutant sentiments? Now she would never know.

It didn't even matter now, though. It had been years since her parents had died. She was over it now. The tears that stung her eyes now were from the wind, she told herself.

They landed several yards away from the target alley. Magneto gathered the metal disks they had flown on, morphing it in mid-air into a sheet of armor that attached itself seamlessly over his chest.

"The Professor detects a mutant in the building to the left. The closest door is that entrance through the alley. We'll go in, give our offer, and get out. The Professor also detects a large group of non-mutants with him, so we need to proceed carefully. Emmaline, you have to stay out here with Rose and Jacob," Storm instructed. "Keep them inside your shield until the coast is clear."

"Why can't we go with you?" Rose asked.

Jacob shook his head. "They've had other mutants try to kill them. She doesn't want us to get hurt, and nothing can get through Emmaline's shield."

Storm looked at Jacob wordlessly for a moment, eyebrows raised. He flushed. "I can't help that you think loudly," he said defensively. Her eyebrows went even higher, getting surprisingly close to her white hair before he added, "Sorry."

Emmaline looked from Storm, to Magneto, then Logan. "You'll be okay?" she asked, uneager to let them out of her range.

"We can take care of ourselves," Logan told her with a smile that made her knees weaken.

Though Emmaline wanted to protest, Storm quickly led the group down the alley and towards a rusted door. Emmaline took a deep breath and then stretched out her shield to include Rose and Jacob. Rose shuddered. "What was that?"

"My shield," Emmaline said shortly, leaning against the corner of the brick wall so she could easily look both at the two teenagers and back down the alley were Logan, Storm, and Magneto had disappeared.

"They'll be fine," Jacob assured her. "Logan can't get hurt anyways."

Emmaline decided she really disliked telepaths. It was bad enough that he was in her shield without being in her head. She glared at him. "Stop reading my mind."

Jacob looked taken aback. "I don't try to hear what people think. I just _do._ I have for three years now."

Emmaline crossed her arms and looked back down the alley, straining her ears to hear any signs of a battle. She knew she was being unnaturally rude, but this was not what she had signed up for. Her only experience with a telepath had been when the Professor had tranquilized her and read her mind, so she wasn't feeling particularly sympathetic to his gift.

Suddenly, Emmaline heard raised voices down the alley. She tried to hear what was being said, but Rose interrupted her concentration. "This is so weird." Rose was poking the shield with increasing force. "It looks like I should just be able to pop it."

Rapid gunfire drew Emmaline's attention again down the alley, her heart in her throat. "Oh my gosh!" Rose exclaimed. "Do you think they're okay?"

Emmaline was about to shush her when Magneto suddenly appeared in the alley with a young man in front of him. There was a metal shield hovering behind them, between them and the building. The expression on his face was far from the mild-mannered old man he had been playing since Emmaline had met him. Instead he looked as dangerous as Logan had warned her he was.

Magneto ushered the man with him forward into a run. "Shield him!" he called, and then turned back to the building. The shield he had maintained broke into a dozen fragments, shifting into a varied group of weapons. He twisted his hand and the metal preceded him into the building.

The alley was too narrow for Emmaline to help though. To shield the ten feet of alley between her and the man would require also including the edge of the buildings on either side, and then who knew who would be inside the shield.

"Hurry up," Emmaline urged. When he reached the shield, Emmaline let him through and leaned back against the brick wall with a heartfelt sigh. Whatever was happening down there they obviously needed her, but if she disobeyed orders she knew Storm wouldn't hesitate to send her back to New York.

To distract herself, Emmaline looked at the new addition to the invasion on her personal space. He was close to Emmaline's age, but could have been older. His thick brown hair and pale blue eyes in addition to smile lines around his mouth made him look extremely youthful. He was breathing heavily, eyes locked on the open door he had emerged from. "Damn," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.

He turned and noticed Emmaline for the first time. "And hello," he said, giving her a winning smile.

"Hi," Emmaline said uncertainly.

"Rob," he introduced himself, holding out a hand.

She paused. Logan had warned her to use her mutant name when she greeted strangers while in uniform. "Aegis," she greeted, shaking hands briefly and then looking back down the alleyway. "What happened?"

"I was working for this gang—I was sort of strong-armed into it. When your buddies came by offering a way out, I took it. The gang wasn't too happy about it, though…As you can tell. I thought I was going to take a bullet there for a minute until the old guy ran me out. Don't know why he made me stay here though."

"Nothing can get in her shield," Rose offered. "I'm Rose."

"Jacob," her brother said, looking at Rob with the distant look that Emmaline had already begun to associate with his telepathy.

"So, what, this bubble is supposed to protect us from bullets?" Rob asked, grinning patronizingly. "I was able to run in easy enough."

"I let you in," Emmaline said distractedly. The fight was taking way too long. What if they'd been injured and needed her? "All right, we're going over there to see what's wrong." She walked forward, bringing her shield with her.

Rose and Jacob followed her, but Rob didn't move. "Oh please, I am not going back in there," he argued. "They'll…Hey, what the—?"

Emmaline glanced back. As she had walked forward, the shield had followed, pushing Rob forward into the alley. She continued forward, though she could hear him trying to force his way through.

Before they reached the doorway, however, her three teammates emerged looking generally unharmed. Logan's uniform was ripped on his sleeve, but the skin underneath was completely unharmed. "Emmaline," he said when he saw her, frowning.

"I was coming to see what was taking so long. Are you all okay?"

"Touching, Aegis, but three of us can handle anything a group of humans throws our way," Magneto said calmly.

"What's that punk doing?" Logan asked angrily, looking past Emmaline.

She turned and saw Rob attacking her shield. The tips of his fingers were each emitting a small flame as though from a welding torch that he was tracing over the bubble wall repeating to no effect. "Fire doesn't affect my shield," Emmaline told him.

Frustrated, Rob's fingers lost the flames and he kicked the bubble. "This is whack. Let me out."

At Storm's nod, Emmaline shrunk the shield back down to herself quickly, glad to be rid of her unwelcome trio of guests.

That night at the Annapolis safe house, Emmaline roamed the halls with Logan under the pretense of patrolling. Like in the Jersey City YMCA, Emmaline was having difficulty sleeping among the other mutants, especially with the addition of the mind-reader. Emmaline kept her shield to herself because she was not in the mood to argue with Logan about whether he could take care of himself or not.

"Storm told me to let you know that we're moving out tomorrow morning," Logan said. "She didn't want to announce it just yet to the whole city, but the Professor is convinced that Mystique's group has moved on from here."

Emmaline nodded. "Is someone going to pick up the kids and take them back to the mansion?"

"The Professor thinks that keeping them with us will be perfectly safe even though we're out here searching for the people who are trying to kill them in the first place," Logan said in a voice that made it clear that he did not agree with the Professor.

Emmaline forced a smile. "So I guess I'll be shielding them some more."

The look Logan gave her told her that he wasn't fooled by the smile. "You can back out of this any time you want. I'd drive you back up the mansion myself."

They walked together in silence. Emmaline was absorbed in her own thoughts, and was pleased to find that Logan was completely comfortable with silence—perhaps even more so than with speaking.

They had been walking through the dark halls that circled the inner sanctum of the church for more than a half hour when Emmaline broke the silence. "What do you think of the new kid?" she asked, referring to Jacob.

"Seems like a dick."

Emmaline looked over at him, surprised, to find his eyes already on her. By silent agreement, they stopped walking. They were alone in a short hallway blocked on each end by oak doors. The plainly tiled floor contrasted the elaborate religious art that decorated the walls. Were it not for the windows along one side of the hall letting in the moonlight, the dark church would have felt ominously dark and silent.

"Why?" Emmaline asked, nonplussed.

"First he tries to weld his way out of your shield—while you were trying to protect him!—and…"

"We're talking about Rob?" Emmaline clarified. "A little self-absorbed, but nothing terrible. He seemed upset by my shield, but okay otherwise."

"Okay," Logan scoffed. "Yeah, you would say that."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Emmaline crossed her arms.

"I saw the way he was looking at you the whole day," Logan said accusatorially.

"What are you even talking about?" Emmaline asked, frustrated.

"Well, darling, he was looking at you like he had x-ray vision instead of fire fingers," Logan growled, "and I didn't see you telling him to keep his eyes to himself."

Bewildered, Emmaline leaned against the wall—careful to avoid the paintings that hung there—and looked at Logan. He looked gruff. His hair was slightly mussed and the sweatpants and plain shirt that he had replaced the leather uniform with emphasized his muscles. He was silhouetted in the moonlight so Emmaline could not completely see his expression, but he did not look happy.

"I didn't even notice," Emmaline said. The truth was, on the flight back, as on every flight, she had been watching Logan to make sure he was coping with being levitated by his enemy, Magneto.

"Sure," Logan said, and started to walk away.

"Hey, wait," Emmaline said. "You're acting ridiculous. You're mad at me for, what, not slapping a guy checking me out that I didn't even realize was doing it? Listen, Logan, we had this conversation earlier. I'm not going to run off with the next guy who smiles at me. I think having Magneto around is just making you paranoid about everything!"

Logan's eyes searched her face, which Emmaline realized he could see her better than she could see his because of his feral mutation. "Magneto _is _dangerous. You haven't known him like I have. I'm okay with being paranoid if it means you live a little longer."

"You need to stop worrying about me," Emmaline said. "I've taken care of myself for years and have been perfectly fine."

"No one was out to get you before. Magneto's known for flipping X-Men. He turned one of Bobby's best friends, and now they're worst enemies. Sure, he says he's on our side this second, but I'm not relying on him for long. I made that mistake before."

"What happened?" Emmaline asked softly.

"He's the reason Jean died the first time. He pretended to work with us, but left us when it was most important. Don't trust him."

"I can make my own decisions, Logan. I'll be as careful as always. Besides, with my shield, I'm not going to die."

"But you are!" Logan burst. "Eventually, maybe not now, maybe not even in fifty years, but eventually, you are going to die."

"Everyone dies," Emmaline said after a few moment's hesitation.

"I don't," Logan said tightly.

Emmaline froze, thinking over his words. She had known he healed, but she thought that when the Professor had said that Logan might have been more than a hundred years old that he had been exaggerating. Was it possible that Logan was going to live forever? When she realized she had been silent for too long and that Logan's body was tense with restrained energy waiting for her response, she finally said, "Then I guess we have to make our time count."

His eyes were dark as they focused directly on her face. Her heart began to race with the intensity of his gaze. He took a step towards her but was blocked by her shield. "Emmaline," he said, husky voice making her shiver. "Let me in."

Tentatively, Emmaline pushed her shield out the extra few feet to fully include Logan. Before she could think through it, Logan was directly in front of her. His rough lips crashed onto her mouth and she gasped softly. He took advantage of her reaction and deepened the kiss. Strong arms wrapped around her waist as he pulled her in closer. This close she noticed little details about him. The feel of his scruffy facial hair on her soft skin. The scent that was so uniquely Logan—the forest, musk, and sweat. His lips left her mouth to explore her neck. "Logan…" Emmaline said, not sure whether she was encouraging or not.

Unlike the first time they kissed, Logan did not stop to let her think and she decided she didn't want to think anyways. "You're not going to die yet," he paused briefly to say before kissing her again.

The feeling of his lips took Emmaline's mind completely away from her previous worries. They had been kissing so long that Emmaline had completely lost track of time when Storm interrupted them.

"Logan!" Storm said exasperatedly.

Emmaline had been plastered to the church wall with Logan directly in front of her. Emmaline looked over Logan's shoulder at her guiltily. Logan paused and looked behind him with a scowl. He turned to look at Storm, his arm around Emmaline bringing her to stand next to him. She knew she was blushing, but hoped Storm couldn't see her face well enough to tell.

"It's two in the morning," Storm reprimanded them. "The Professor told me to make sure that Emmaline sleeps. This… this is not sleeping."

Emmaline tried to subtly take a step away from Logan, but his arm was tight around her waist.

"I'm going to finish my rounds around the perimeter, and when I get back to the main room I'd like for Emmaline to be asleep," Storm said.

"I will," Emmaline said quickly.

"How long will your rounds take?" Logan asked.

"Logan," Emmaline complained, but when she looked up at him she saw a teasing smile on his lips.

"Go to bed," Storm ordered, her face softened momentarily by a smile before she left the hallway.

_**Sorry for the long wait. Please review!!! There's more action to come in the next chapter!**_


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